The Halfa Family
by blackbelt256
Summary: What if Danny wasn't the only Fenton to gain ghost powers from the portal accident? Just an idea I thought I'd run by y'all. Pairings: Jack x Maddie, Jazz x J13, Danny x Ember. Danielle makes an appearance later! Rated T for language, may raise to M later on. Special thanks to msclever9 for the cover art! Abandoned, up for adoption.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Another story idea, this one being about…(drum roll)…what if Danny wasn't the only Fenton to get ghost powers from the portal? What if they ALL did? Read and find out! Disclaimer: I am not Butch Hartman. Therefore, I own nothing except the idea. (Also, Jack isn't fat in this fic, he's ridiculously well-built)**

 **The Halfa Family**

 **Chapter 1**

"DANNY! JAZZ! COME DOWN TO THE LAB!" Jack Fenton bellowed up the stairs.

A raven-haired teen and his redheaded sister sighed. They looked at each other and started talking in perfect sync.

"You first."

"No, you."

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Best two out of three?"

"Deal."

They each held up a fist and pounded into their open palm three times. Danny came up with rock, and Jazz had scissors. A frown came across her face as they prepared for round 2.

Danny won with paper, and Jazz hung her head in defeat before dragging her feet towards the basement door. She didn't even get halfway there before she was met with a wall of orange. "There you are! Come on down, your mother and I want to show you something!" Jack exclaimed, before tossing Jazz over his massive shoulder like a sack of potatoes and heading down to the lab.

Danny just chuckled at his father's antics and followed the massive, jumpsuit-clad man down to the basement lab.

What he didn't expect was the massive hole in the wall.

Well, it wasn't so much a hole, more like a tunnel, with the end capped off. There was an artist's easel propped next to it with what looked like a blueprint on it. In big, bold letters across the top were the words "Ghost Portal". Danny groaned. It was bad enough they lived in Amity Park, the most haunted city in America, but he also had to be the son of _the_ most obsessive ghost hunters in the world.

A woman in a blue jumpsuit stood off to the side, running a few last-minute calculations. She looked up as the three approached, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Ah, there you are! Come, come, it's finally ready for testing! The calculations look good, and everything seems to be in order," she said, not bothering to hide the obvious excitement in her voice.

"Well then let's fire this baby up, Maddie!" Jack yelled, and he grabbed two plugs. With a smirk at his family, he plugged in the portal.

There were a few greenish sparks, then nothing.

Jack's face fell. "I…I was so sure…" he said dejectedly. He literally looked like his dreams had shattered in front of him.

Danny couldn't bear to see his father like this. "Hey, maybe something's up with the inside of the portal! I could go in and see," he said quickly, and his father's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"That's a great idea, Danny-boy! If all four of us go in, we can cover more ground!" he exclaimed, before turning around and grabbing two HAZMAT suits from hooks on the wall. He turned around, his normally cheery face turning deadly serious.

"Now, kids, I understand that you don't like wearing these. I understand that they aren't "the latest fashion", or, as Danny puts it, "even remotely cool". But this time, there is no room for arguments. We're dealing with high-voltage stuff here, and I want you to be protected," he said, giving them a surprisingly stern glare.

Both kids gulped, nodded, and put on the suits.

All four Fentons then went into the portal to figure out what was wrong.

-TIMESKIP: 10 minutes later-

Jack threw his hands up in defeat. "I thought for sure there was something here!" he yelled exasperatedly. Maddie went to console him as Jazz sat on the floor of the portal. Danny shook his head and leaned against the wall.

 _Click._

Everyone turned at the sound, and Danny moved his arm to see what caused it.

A big, green button. Labeled "ON".

They heard the whine of energy as the portal started up, and they looked at each other as they shared the same thought.

"Oh, shit."

Suddenly, the portal blasted to life, and everything went green.

After what felt like hours, the four Fentons finally staggered out of the portal, but they weren't the same as they were when they went in.

Jack's raven hair had turned silver, going down in a ponytail to his shoulder blades. His jumpsuit was gone, replaced by a black, skin-tight tunic, a white leather belt, and white jeans and black combat boots. On his massive hands were white fingerless gloves, with studs on the knuckles. His eyes had changed from their usual baby blue to a burning orange, almost like looking at fire, and he found fangs where his canines used to be.

Maddie now sported jet-black hair, which tumbled down her back free from any restraint. Her jumpsuit remained, though it was now as black as her hair. Her eyes were now sky-blue.

Jazz's hair had turned a deep red, and if one looked closely, they could see flickers of flame passing through the locks. Her jumpsuit was gone as well, replaced by a white cut-off shirt that exposed her midriff, with black pants and white combat boots. She had fingerless gloves, although they were black instead of white. Her eyes were a deeper red than her hair.

Danny's appearance had changed the most.

His black hair was now white as snow, and his eyes were a poisonous neon green. He had fangs as well, just like his father. His jumpsuit was replaced by a black Assassins' outfit, albeit slightly modernized*. He had black fingerless gloves on, with black pants and boots. He had a white belt around his waist, like his dad.

They looked at each other, then sank to the floor, unconscious.

While they lay on the floor, something happened.

A white ring appeared around Danny's waist, then split. One ring traveled up toward his head, the other down to his feet. As the rings passed over him, he was changed back to his original appearance, minus the HAZMAT suit.

The same phenomenon occurred with the rest of the Fentons, although the rings were different colors.

Jazz had red rings, while Maddie's were blue, and Jack's were pitch-black.

-TIMESKIP: 15 minutes later-

Danny awoke with a start. He sat up, groaning and clutching his head, as he tried to remember what happened. All he remembered was accidentally pushing a button, then green, then...nothing.

Danny's groan caused the other Fentons to stir and regain consciousness.

Jack jumped up, looking around the room warily before his eyes settled on the swirling green vortex of the ghost portal. His jaw dropped, then his face lit up with unrestrained joy. Danny smiled at his father's antics, but was quickly rendered shocked as a black ring appeared around his father's waist and split, one going up, the other down.

He stared, slack-jawed, at his father as his entire appearance changed before his eyes.

Jack caught Danny's eye. "What? Is there something on my face?" he asked, his voice echoing a bit. Danny just grabbed a shiny piece of metal and held it up.

Jack gaped as he took in his reflection. He then started to panic. Was he a ghost? Did he die? Was he evil? He was even further startled when a black ring appeared around his waist and split, changing him back to his original appearance, jumpsuit and all.

Jack suddenly gained a thoughtful expression. He noticed Maddie regaining consciousness and ran over to her, helping her up.

"Maddie, I have something I want to run by you. Promise not to think I'm crazy?" he said. Maddie raised an eyebrow but nodded. Jack took a deep breath and blurted out his hypothesis, but he ended up tripping over his words.

Maddie looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows. "From what you've just told me," she said slowly, "am I correct to assume that since we were electrocuted and bombarded with ectoplasmic energy simultaneously, we've entered into a half-dead state?" Jack nodded, and Maddie shook her head. "Jack, that's impossible," she said gently. Jack huffed and closed his eyes in concentration. He felt the rings pass over him and he opened his eyes to find a gaping Fenton family.

Jazz was the first to recover. "Dad?" she asked hesitantly. Jack smiled. "It's me, Jazzypants," he said. He let the rings wash over him again and he was back in his original appearance.

He thought of something. "Guys, I know this might sound crazy, but just g with me on this. I want you to think about changing. Like, everything about you. If my hypothesis is correct, I think we've been turned into half-ghosts," he said slowly.

Everyone closed their eyes and concentrated. Jack watched, dumbfounded, as colored rings of light changed his entire family's appearance before his very eyes.

Jazz's rings were red, Danny's white, and Maddie's deep blue.

He felt a smile work its way onto his face before he transformed.

On a whim, he jumped into the air and thought of hovering in place.

When he looked down, he saw that he was indeed hovering a few feet off the ground. He thought about descending and he did, landing lightly on the balls of his feet.

Danny concentrated on forming a ball of energy in his hand, and a green ball of ectoplasm formed, floating about an inch above his open palm.

Maddie concentrated on becoming invisible and disappeared, only to reappear seconds later with a satisfied smile.

Jazz was the most outgoing, concentrating on being on the opposite side of the lab, before she was enveloped in a whirl of fire and disappeared, only to reappear in a burst of fire on the opposite side of the lab.

Suddenly, a colored mist escaped everyone's mouth. Jack's was yellow, Maddie's was violet, Jazz's was red, and Danny's was blue. They all looked at each other in confusion when a scythe-wielding ghost with blue skin and red eyes appeared in front of them, a staff with a clock on top in his other hand. He smiled at the family as they jumped and settled into fighting stances.

"Peace, Fenton family. I mean you no harm. I am Clockwork, master of time. I'm simply here to explain what's happened," he said in a calming voice.

Clockwork wasted no time in informing the Fentons of their situation.

"As Jack hypothesized earlier, you four are indeed half-ghost. The technical term we have for you is "halfa". As far as I know, and I know everything, there is only one other halfa in existence in this timeline. I believe you know him as Vladimir Masters." Cue looks of shock from the Fentons.

Clockwork smiled. "First things first, though, we need to figure out what cores you each have. I may be omnipotent, but correctly judging a ghost's core is impossible for most everyone, and it is barely hit-or-miss for me. I need you to transform, then tell me the sensation you have as the rings pass over you." The Fentons transformed as one.

Jack spoke up first. "It felt like my entire body fell asleep. Kind of tingly," he said.

Maddie was next. "I felt cool, but not cold. Like a springtime breeze."

Next up, Jazz. "I felt hot, like I stepped into a sauna"

Last, Danny. "I felt cold, like I was stuck in the North Pole."

Clockwork smiled again. "Jack, you have a lightning core. Maddie, yours is air. Jazz, you have fire. And Danny, your core is ice," he explained, then he stuck out his hand. It glowed purple, and a violet aura briefly surrounded the Fentons, before disappearing. "I have unlocked your basic elemental powers, but it is up to you to seek out a tutor for training. You will also find that many other abilities will manifest themselves in due time," he explained. He then formed a blue portal behind him. "You may or may not see me again, but I wish you the best. Until we meet again," he said, before he disappeared into the portal and it vanished.

The Fentons let out a collective sigh and transformed back into their human selves.

Jack looked at his family and wrapped them in a bear hug. "I have _the_ most _badass_ family ever," he said happily.

"So what do we do now?" interjected Danny. "How do we use our powers?" Jack looked thoughtful. "I think we should train first, then we could protect the town from the ghosts that are likely to come out of this portal," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at said portal.

The rest of the family nodded, then Jazz spoke up. "Wait! If we're going to be superheroes, we need secret identities, right?" she said, and everyone thought about that. It was a sound argument. Jack nodded. "Great idea, Jazz. My ghost form will be known as Shade from now on," he said proudly.

Maddie went next. "I'll be Specter," she said confidently.

"I'll be Flare," Jazz said with pride.

Danny took a while to decide. He finally decided, and chuckled a bit at the similarity to his last name.

"And I'll be Phantom."

 **Well guys, I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review, no flames please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Here's Chapter 2! Again, I own nothing except the idea, the ghost forms, and Embers mom!**

 **Chapter 2**

 **TWO WEEKS LATER, AMITY PARK'S CENTRAL PARK**

Danny settled into a fighting stance, facing off against his sister. It was part of their training, fight each other not just to get stronger, but to see how they could adapt their fighting styles to cover each other's weaknesses.

Danny quickly shot into the air just in time to dodge a blast of red ecto-energy fired from Jazz's fist. He had learned early on in their sparring sessions that he was the best at aerial combat. Jack was physically the strongest, as well as having a mountain of endurance. Maddie was superior in hand-to-hand combat, and Jazz was a force to be reckoned with using her energy blasts.

Danny started circling Jazz at his newly discovered top speed of 250 miles per hour, pelting her with a combination of ecto and ice blasts. He noticed she was charging a fire blast and quickly teleported behind her and froze her solid, leaving only her head unfrozen.

She had no choice but to accept defeat.

Danny sighed and watched his mom and dad face off. Jack relied on his brute strength to deliver punishing blows, and his increased endurance meant he could keep raining down blows for hours on end and not even be winded.

Maddie, on the other hand, used her superior reflexes to dodge Jack's blows and deliver some hits of her own.

Suddenly, Jack yelled and thrust his hand out toward Maddie, and a huge lightning bolt shot out, hitting Maddie square in the chest. She flew back at least 30 feet before righting herself. She took a deep breath and exhaled a blast of wind.

Jack barely moved because of his immense size, but he still felt the power of the blast. He used her momentary gasping for air as a cover as he teleported behind her and grabbed her in a chokehold. "Yield," he said, slowly tightening his hold. Maddie fought for a minute before the strain on her neck was too mush and she tapped Jack's forearm 3 times. Jack immediately let go, recognizing the universal sign of surrender.

Everyone smiled at each other before reverting back to their human forms.

There was an audible gasp from the bushes.

All four Fentons whirled around and locked onto the spot the sound had come from. Danny teleported away before returning with two teens, a girl and a boy. The Fentons surrounded them, effectively cutting off all escape routes. Jack spoke in a low yet calm voice.

"Who are you?" he asked.

It was the girl who answered. "I-I'm Sam Manson," she stammered, terrified. "And this is my friend, Tucker Foley." Jack narrowed his eyes.

"How much did you see?"

It was Tucker's turn this time. "We were walking through the park when we heard fighting and explosions. We came to see what was up and saw you change forms," he said hurriedly. He was shaking in his shoes.

Jazz spoke up next. "Dad, let's take them back to the house. We can decide what to do with them there," she reasoned, and her father nodded. "Danny, if you could take Miss Manson and Mister Foley to the house, that would be lovely," he said, still in that low voice. Danny nodded and transformed. He smiled evilly at the teens, making sure they got a good look at his fangs. With that, he placed a hand on each of their shoulders and disappeared.

Jack, Maddie, and Jazz looked at each other, each exchanging nervous glances before they too teleported home.

Danny was watching the teens on the couch when his family appeared. They promptly walked over to stand in front of the two petrified teens, looking them over with a curious gaze. Maddie noticed how terrified they looked and pulled the rest of the family into a corner.

"They haven't exactly done anything wrong," she said simply. "My guess is if we swear them to secrecy, they'll be too scared to tell anyone." Jack nodded, as did Danny and Jazz. They walked back over to the teens, who promptly stiffened in fright. Maddie gave them a warm smile. "Relax, we're not going to hurt you," she said. "We were just concerned for our well-being, that's all. We don't really go around announcing our identities to the world." The teens visibly calmed now that they realized they weren't going to be vaporized.

"Um…if you don't mind me asking…what…who are you?" the girl stammered.

Jack smiled. "We're the Fentons. I'm Jack. This is my wife, Maddie; my daughter, Jazz; and my son, Danny. He goes to your school I think," he said warmly, and Sam nodded. "I have a class period with him, but I've never talked to him," she said.

Danny nodded. "I recognize you. 4th period, Mr. Lancer's English class?" he asked, and Sam nodded again.

This time Tucker spoke. "So…what was all that in the park?" he asked nervously.

The family stared at him, then transformed as one. Sam and Tucker's jaws hit the floor. Jazz explained. "We're half-ghosts. We were electrocuted and bombarded with high levels of ectoplasm, which gave us our ghost forms," she said. They changed back and looked at the teens sternly.

"Where are your parents?" Maddie asked, walking toward the phone. She didn't miss Sam's wince. She turned around and gave Sam a concerned look. "Is everything alright?" she asked. Sam took a deep breath.

"I…don't like my parents. They try to force me to be like them, all proper and snooty. They don't like the fact that I want to be seen as an individual. I doubt they'll even notice I'm gone," she said, and Maddie's look softened. "I completely understand, Sam. If you want, you can spend the night here tonight," she said gently, and Sam thought about it for a bit before nodding. "Thank you, Mrs. Fenton," she said gratefully. Maddie just smiled.

She turned to Tucker. "What about you, young man?" she asked. Tucker shrank into the couch. "I can go home, if you want," he squeaked. Maddie just smiled. "Not without eating something, I hope! Jack, go set the table, and add two plates," she said. "We're having fettuccini alfredo tonight, if you're okay with that," she said to the two teens. Both nodded, and went to help set the table. After they left, Maddie turned to Danny and Jazz. "Well, they certainly seem trustworthy," she said, and both her kids nodded.

"Tomorrow, we'll start our nightly ghost patrols," she said. "We'll take turns, so each of us gets an equal amount of rest." Her children nodded again, then the three walked into the kitchen.

Dinner was uneventful. After they finished, Tucker prepared to leave. He was pulled aside by Jack, who gave the teen a stern look. "Tucker, I want you to listen to me. You can't tell ANYBODY what you learned tonight. It could be disastrous," he warned, and Tucker nodded. "You don't have anything to worry about, Mr. Fenton. I don't really have many friends, and I'm not really popular, so even if I did tell someone, I doubt they would believe me." Jack seemed to accept this, and smiled. "Do you want to walk, drive, or fly?" he asked. Tucker thought about it, then decided, "Fly." Jack grinned and transformed. He grabbed Tucker under the arms and took off out the door.

They arrived at Tucker's house minutes later. Jack looked at Tucker with a warm smile. "Feel free to come by whenever you want," he said. "I daresay Danny could use a new friend." Tucker smiled and nodded. He waited for Jack to fly off before opening the door and walking inside.

Back at the Fenton house, Danny was giving Sam the tour of the house. He and Sam were getting along well enough. They were still awkward about the events of that night.

"And here's where you'll be staying. I'll see if Jazz can loan you some pajamas."

Sam smiled and nodded.

Danny smiled back and went downstairs. Sam sighed and laid down on the soft bed. She had a hard time wrapping her head around the whole half-ghost thing, but then again, she lived in the nation's supernatural capital.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Sam opened it and found Maddie with a stack of clothes. "These are for you, I think they'll fit. They're some of Jazz's. I noticed you liked wearing dark colors so I thought these would work," she said.

Sam accepted the clothes and Maddie left her so she could change.

Danny was sitting on the couch watching a movie when his mother came downstairs. He looked over at her and said simply, "Mom, I want to go to the Ghost Zone." Maddie froze. "Not alone, I hope?" He rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I meant as a family. Think of it as quality family time," he said. Maddie looked thoughtful. "I'll talk to your father about it," she said finally.

"Talk to me about what?" asked Jack as he phased into the room and reverted back to his human form.

Maddie threw Danny a glare. She hadn't intended on asking Jack anything. Before she could head him off though, Danny said quickly, "Dad, would you be opposed to a little family outing to the Ghost Zone?" Jack immediately lit up like a Christmas tree. "That's a great idea, Danny-boy! We'll go tomorrow, because it's the weekend," he said happily. Danny beamed. Maddie shot him another glare before following her husband upstairs.

Danny turned back to his movie, before he heard a small cough from the stairs. He turned and saw Sam standing on the stairs, fidgeting nervously. He smiled and scooted over on the couch so she could sit down. She obliged, tucking her bare feet under her and resting her chin on her knees. She radiated sadness and longing. Danny picked up on this. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Sam just sighed and shook her head. "Want to talk about it?" Sam was silent for a while, before taking a deep breath.

"I lied when I talked about my parents. They actually disowned me and kicked me out because I refused to be their perfect little girl," she said sadly. Danny was shocked. He quickly recomposed himself. "You need to tell someone, you can't live on the streets," he said. Sam just sighed again. "I have nowhere else to go," she said. "Yes you do. Come with me," Danny said, before getting up and walking up the stairs to his parents' room. He knocked, and the door opened to reveal Jack. He gave the to a confused look.

With some help from Danny, Sam recounted her story. Maddie had joined Jack by this time, and when Sam finished, both were bristling in anger.

"That's it. I don't care how long it takes, we will find a way to officially adopt you," Maddie said with conviction, and Jack nodded in agreement. Sam had tears in her eyes as she was wrapped in a hug by both parents. Her new parents.

 **-TIMESKIP: THE NEXT DAY-**

The Fenton family gathered in front of the portal. Sam had been sent to Tucker's, and the family lawyer had been dispatched to Sam's house to obtain all her legal documents, as required for adoption. They transformed and prepared to go into the vast unknown that was the Ghost Zone.

Jack went first, then Maddie, followed by Jazz and Danny. They marveled at the green atmosphere and the floating doors. Suddenly, the ghost of a middle-aged woman with blue hair tied back in a ponytail flew up to them.

"Hello, are you newcomers?" she asked sweetly, and the entire family nodded.

"Well, my name's Ellen McLain, and you are?"

Jack spoke. "I'm Shade, and this is my wife, Specter, my daughter Flare, and my son Phantom," he said, before extending a hand to shake. She took it and shook politely, then beckoned. "Since you probably don't know your way around yet, I'll take you to my family's lair. I have a daughter about your son's age, I think they'll get along quite well," she said with a smile before flying off, slow enough for the Fentons to catch up.

They eventually arrived at a plain wooden door. Ellen opened it and invited them inside, explaining that the only way a ghost could get into another's lair is by invitation. They gathered in the living room and sat down on the couch. Ellen pulled up a chair and sat down in it. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you all die? It isn't often we get entire families here in the Zone," she said.

"Electrocution," the Fentons said as one.

Ellen visibly winced. "Nasty business, electrocution. I'm sorry."

"Mom?"

The Fentons turned and noticed a blue-haired girl about Danny's age standing in the doorway. Danny blushed slightly and so did the girl, before moving her gaze back to her mother.

"Mom, who are they?" she asked nervously, continuously glancing at Danny and blushing.

Ellen smiled, not missing a thing. "Ember, come here and introduce yourself to our guests," she said in a motherly way. Ember walked over and stood next to her mother, stealing glances at Danny every now and then and blushing whenever he caught her looking.

"H-hi, I'm Ember McLain," she said nervously.

Jack smiled. "Hello there, Ember. I'm Shade," he said warmly.

"I'm Specter."

"Flare, nice to meet you."

"I-I'm Phantom," Danny said nervously, causing both him and the girl to blush.

Jack, Maddie, and Jazz all caught Ellen's eye and smiled knowingly. She responded with a smile of her own and a roll of her eyes.

"Ember, could you go to the kitchen and set the table for our guests? I'm sure they're hungry," Ellen said. Ember nodded and walked into the kitchen.

Jack caught on quickly. "Danny, why don't you go help her? We're guests in their house, so it's only polite," he said with a smirk in Ellen's direction. She had a smile on her face as she realized what Jack was up to.

Danny went very red and tried to argue, but his mother had caught on by this point. "NOW, young man," she said. Danny sighed and walked into the kitchen.

Ember was at the cabinet getting the plates out. Danny coughed lightly to gain her attention. She turned, saw who it was, and blushed furiously. This caused Danny to blush as well. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop looking at Ember.

She was beautiful. Her blue hair complimented her pale skin quite well, in his opinion. Her green eyes sparkled in the light and he noticed her hair seemed to be literally made of fire.

She was judging him the same way.

She thought his white hair was cool on its own, but combined with his green eyes…she could barely contain herself. She noticed his physique, he wasn't one of those meatheads who spent all day in the gym, but he had respectable muscle in all the right places.

Suddenly, she realized he was talking.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what did you say?"

Danny blushed. "I asked you if you like music," he said.

Her face lit up and she nodded.

He smiled. Finally, a conversation starter. "Who's your favorite band?" he asked eagerly.

She thought about it for a bit. "I'd say it's a tie between Halestorm and Three Days Grace," she said.

Danny's jaw dropped. "M-me too," he said in disbelief. He noticed she was wearing a shirt with a guitar on it. "Do you play?" he asked, indicating the guitar. Ember blushed but nodded.

"Can…can I hear you play?" he asked, going red as a tomato. She blushed even darker but led him off toward the rec room, where she kept her guitar.

She picked it up and plugged it in, then looked at him nervously. "What do you want to hear?" she asked nervously. Danny thought about it, then decided. "Do you know Sweet Child O' Mine?" he asked, and she nodded.

She closed her eyes as she started playing the opening notes. Her fingers flew over the frets as she played the famous intro.

Suddenly, she was joined by another guitar. She opened her eyes and saw Danny playing along with her, in perfect rhythm. He gave a sheepish smile as he strummed the chords and started to sing.

Ember felt like she'd died again, but had gone to heaven this time.

His voice was beautiful. He didn't miss a single note, and his voice was just…perfect.

Finally the song ended, and both Danny and Ember blushed.

They put the guitars up and made their way back to the kitchen.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Ember decided to sit next to Danny during lunch. Ellen caught Maddie's eye and nodded slightly in Danny and Ember's direction. Maddie grinned; it was only a matter of time now.

Finally, it came time for the Fentons to leave. After saying their goodbyes, the Fentons were about to leave when they noticed Ember and Danny exchanging phone numbers. The Fentons minus Danny smiled. Jazz leaned over to her father. "I give them a month," she said. "Ten bucks says it's two weeks," he replied. "Done."

 **-TIMESKIP: A week later-**

Danny was over at Ember's lair for what seemed like the fifth time this week. He had no idea that his own family was placing bets on him, to see how long it would take him to ask Ember out.

They spent the day hanging out, playing guitar and debating which bands were better than others. She shared his opinion that although Nickelback were kind of generic, that didn't necessarily make them a crappy band. They were particularly fond of the song "Photograph", and devoted hours to learning how to play it.

Eventually, though, it came time for Danny to leave. He had been debating something mentally for quite some time, and had finally made up his mind.

As Ember walked with him to the door, he stopped and looked at her.

"Uh…Ember? Can I ask you something?" he asked nervously.

Ember blushed slightly but nodded.

Danny took a deep breath.

"There's…there's a Three Days Grace concert in my hometown this weekend…and I was wondering if…maybe…you'd like to go with me?" he asked, going cherry red.

Ember promptly went scarlet. She was silent for a while before she slowly smiled and nodded. Danny's face lit up in delight and he said, "Great! I'll pick you up this Saturday at 6." Ember blushed again and nodded. Then, on a whim, she leaned forward and kissed Danny on the cheek.

Danny blushed and instinctively brought his hand to the place her lips had made contact. He stared at Ember in shock, before a goofy grin found its way to his face.

After waving goodbye and giving Ember a wink that made her blush, he flew off in the direction of the portal. He was all smiles as he flew through the vortex and transformed.

A cough behind him told him he was not alone.

He whirled around to find his entire family smiling knowingly at him. He blushed, his hand finding the back of his neck out of habit.

"So, Danny, how's Ember?" Jack asked, still smiling.

"She's good, why do you ask?" Danny countered.

Maddie's turn. "Did you make any plans for this week?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Danny turned scarlet. "Maybe…" he said. His entire family raised an eyebrow as one. "Okay, fine, I asked her to go to the Three Days Grace concert this weekend."

Jack and Jazz were disappointed that they couldn't cash in on their bet, but Maddie squealed in delight. "My baby boy's finally got a girlfriend!" she cooed, and Danny, if possible, went even redder and buried his face in his hands.

He secretly smiled behind his hands.

He couldn't wait for Saturday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! This story seems to be writing itself, so here's another chapter for y'all!**

 **Chapter 3**

 **THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY**

Danny was a nervous wreck. He had never been on a date before, and he was having a panic attack. He was surrounded by his family, who were all whispering words of encouragement to him, but to no avail. Suddenly, Jazz stepped forward and slapped him right off the couch.

Danny was stunned by the slap. He glared up at Jazz. "What the hell?!" he yelled. "That hurt!" Jazz just smirked. "You're not panicking anymore, are you?" she pointed out. Danny only growled under his breath; she had a point.

Jazz knelt down beside him. "Danny, it's going to be fine. I was terrified when I went on my first date with a boy. It's only natural to feel nervous," she said soothingly, and it seemed to work. Danny visibly relaxed, then smiled widely.

Jazz smiled too. "Now I believe you have a young lady to pick up?" Maddie teased. Danny groaned, transformed, and floated through the portal, before rocketing off towards Ember's lair.

When he got there, he made sure that the present he brought was still there. It was; good. Taking a deep breath, he raised his fist and knocked on the door.

The door swung open so fast that Danny almost hit Ellen in the face. Luckily, he managed to stop himself just in time.

"Oh, hello, Phantom! Come in, Ember will be here in a minute, she's just finishing up getting ready," Ellen said with a warm smile. Danny returned the smile and sat on the couch, fiddling with the small box in his hands. He hoped she would like it; it had taken a long time to make.

Finally, Ember walked in, and Danny's jaw dropped. She wore a black Three Days Grace tee shirt with the sleeves cut off, ripped skinny jeans, and black Vans. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail, and she had put on lip gloss. In short, she was gorgeous.

Meanwhile, Ember thought the same thing about Danny.

He was wearing a plain black skin-tight tee shirt that showed off his physique quite nicely, in her opinion. He had white jeans with a black chain, and black combat boots. She couldn't get over the way his green eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the living room.

She suddenly became aware of the box he was holding out to her.

Curious, she took it and opened it. She gasped.

Inside was a simple silver necklace with a treble clef charm on it. She slowly picked it up out of the box, and finally looked back at Danny, who was blushing furiously.

"W-wow Phantom," she said, "it's…it's beautiful."

Danny smiled and took it from her, undoing the clasp as she leaned forward a little so he could clasp it around her neck.

Danny grinned. "Grab the charm and pull down," he said, still smiling.

Confused, Ember did so, and was thoroughly surprised when the charm began to glow. It got so bright that Ember had to shield her eyes. She became acutely aware of a significant weight on her shoulder, and looked down to see a pitch-black Gibson Explorer Custom. Her dream guitar. She nearly fainted then and there.

When she figured out how to turn the guitar back into a necklace (turn the volume knob to 10, then to zero), she ran forward and nearly crushed Danny in a hug. "Thank you so much, Phantom," she whispered. Danny smiled and whispered back, "Danny." She pulled away, looking confused. "What?" she asked, bewildered. "Call me Danny when we're not in public. It was my name when I was alive."

Ember nodded. Danny smiled and checked his watch, before allowing himself to float a few inches off the floor. Ember looked a little scared, and he became concerned. "Ember, are you alright?" he asked. She shook her head. "I…I can't fly…" she said softly. Danny's gaze softened. "Have you tried before?" he asked. She shook her head. Danny scowled, then his face lit up. "I got it! After the concert I'm going to teach you how to fly!" he exclaimed. He allowed his victorious smile to be replaced with a smirk. "Until then, however…" Danny placed one arm around Ember's waist and swept her feet out from under her, carrying her bridal style. She flushed a deep crimson. "…you get to be carried," Danny finished with a grin.

Ignoring Ember's screams of protest, Danny shot off towards the portal, laughing the whole way.

The Fentons were waiting for them on the other side. Maddie gave her son and his date a warm smile, Jack clapped his son on the shoulder and winked at Ember knowingly, causing her to go scarlet, and Jazz tried to get details about Danny and Ember's relationship. Emphasis on "tried".

Danny flew through the ceiling, still carrying Ember, and flew off towards the concert.

When they got there, the stadium was packed. There were people in the trees outside, just trying to get a peek at the band.

Ember looked crestfallen. "There's no more seats…" she said sadly. Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh…hello? Ghost, right here! We sit wherever we damn well please!"

They scared a couple of fat, old men out of their front-row seats and promptly sat down. Ember was bouncing on her seat, she was so excited.

Suddenly, the arena went dark. There were whispers from the crowd, then the intro to "I am Machine" came through the speakers, before the stadium exploded into cheers.

"Hello, Amity Park! Are you ready to ROCK?!" screamed Matt Walst, the vocalist.

Amity Park roared in response. Ember was visibly shaking as the band performed their latest hit. Then the heavy bass intro to "Animal I Have Become" came on, and the arena was plunged into chaos once more.

During a break in the music, Ember wanted to go get a drink, so she asked Danny if they could get some. He nodded, then promptly grabbed her bridal-style and flew up.

There were gasps of shock from the crowd. Danny mentally kicked himself.

He had forgotten to go invisible.

"GHOST!" someone screamed, and the arena was thrown into mass panic.

Danny was about to apologize to Ember when he heard a voice through the microphone.

"Uh…'scuse me, Mr. Ghost?"

He looked down to see the entire band staring up at him in awe. Matt was the one who had spoken, and he continued. "Um…could we…talk to you? It's not every day we see ghosts, and this is our first time in Amity Park." Danny grinned and slowly flew down to the stage, still carrying Ember, who was struck dumb. She was meeting one of her favorite bands of all time.

Danny landed lightly on the stage, letting Ember down gently. She was still awestruck at being this close to the band. Matt laughed and waved his hand in front of her. "Hello? This is Earth calling, you there?" he said teasingly.

Ember was shaken out of her thoughts and promptly blushed a deep crimson.

Danny laughed. Matt turned to him again. "So, you got a name? We can't really go around calling a teenager "Mr. Ghost", you know." Danny smiled again. "You can call me Phantom, and this is Ember McLain," he said.

Matt introduced himself and his band; his brother Brad on bass, Neil Sanderson on drums, Barry Stock on lead guitar, and Adam Gontier on rhythm guitar.

Barry noticed the charm on Ember's necklace. "So, do you play?" he asked. Deciding to throw Danny under the bus with her, she nodded and said, "We both do." Adam promptly handed his guitar to Danny with a smirk, as Barry handed his to Ember. "Let's see what you got."

Danny and Ember took a deep breath and started playing the intro to "The Good Life".

Suddenly they were joined by Neil and Brad. Ember was about to go into shock. She not only met her favorite band, but now she was playing with them. Matt picked up the microphone and started singing.

When they finished the song, the band applauded Danny and Ember, who blushed. As they went to give the guitars back, Adam and Barry held up their hands. "Keep them, God knows we have too many," Barry said laughing. As Danny and Ember thanked them, Matt walked up with a slip of paper in his hand. On it was a list of the band's names and phone numbers. "If you ever want to join, we'd be glad to have you," he said with a smile. "Plus, I think it'll boost ratings if we're the only rock band with a couple of…ghostly members."

Danny and Ember nearly fainted right there.

Eventually, Danny and Ember had to leave. They waved goodbye to the band and flew off, Danny carrying Ember with both their guitars strapped to his back.

When they made it to Ember's lair, Danny set her down and handed her guitar over.

He was surprised when Ember grabbed his shirt and kissed him full on the mouth.

He stood there, shocked, for a few seconds before closing his eyes and returning the kiss. They stayed that way for a few minutes before they broke away, foreheads touching. They were redder than a tomato and grinning like fools.

After a while of staring into each other's eyes, Danny finally broke the silence.

"So does this mean…?"

Ember kissed him again, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

"Yes, it does," she said with a smile. Danny smiled back before remembering something.

"So, when do you want flying lessons?" he asked, and Ember immediately became nervous. Finally, she looked up at him with determination. "Tomorrow," she said. "I want to learn as quickly as possible." Danny nodded. He gave Ember another kiss before saying goodbye and flying off towards the portal.

As he floated into the lab, he transformed and walked up the stairs, trying to avoid his family at all costs.

Ha! That plan failed miserably.

They were waiting for him in the living room. He knew he couldn't go invisible and walk past them, their ghost senses would go off. So he decided to just get it over with, and walked into the living room. As one, his family's heads turned in his direction, wide smiles on their faces.

Jack spoke up first. "So, how was the concert?" he asked. Danny shrugged. "It was pretty good," he said. Jack grinned wider. "Where'd you get the guitar?" he pressed. Danny's hand found the back of his neck. "I may have…gotten the opportunity to play with the band…" he said quickly.

Jazz just turned on the TV. There was a news report on, and the top story…the ghostly member of Three Days Grace.

"Earlier tonight, at the Three Days Grace concert, a ghost in the form of a teenager caused a panic, though as you can see from this eyewitness video, it may have been accidental. No injuries were reported, and as you can see here, the ghost actually played a song with the band. So just who is this spirit? Is he benevolent? Back to you, Mary." Jazz clicked off the TV. Danny was beet red.

Maddie finally spoke up. "Danny, did you take Ember straight home afterwards? You were gone quite a while," she said knowingly. Danny nodded.

"You kissed, didn't you?" Wow, straight to the point. "W-why do you ask?" he stammered.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me that's not the reason you're wearing lip gloss? Is there something you're not telling us, sweetie?" Danny went scarlet as Jazz and Jack dropped to the floor, laughing their guts out.

Maddie just grinned. "I'm just teasing, sweetheart. So you've got a girlfriend! That's wonderful! When are you hanging out next?" she asked.

"Well, I told her I'd teach her how to fly tomorrow," he said. Maddie nodded.

"That's a great idea, honey. We'll be down at the courthouse all day filling out Sam's adoption papers and Jazz is hanging out with some friends, so you can go to the park and teach her," she said.

Danny smiled and nodded. He couldn't wait.

The next day, Ember was pacing the length of her room. She was waiting for Danny, who wasn't supposed to be there for another half-hour. Finally she got sick of waiting and walked downstairs to the living room, where her mom sat sewing a shirt.

"Mom, is it alright if I go surprise Danny at his house?" she asked nervously. Her mother smiled and nodded. "Let me call his parents first," she said, reaching for the phone.

A few minutes later, Ember was at the portal, courtesy of her mother teleporting her. She took a deep breath and walked through.

She looked around. She was in a lab of some sort. She was worried that she went through the wrong portal, when Danny phased through the ceiling. She went invisible just in time.

Ember smirked, sneaking up behind her boyfriend. Suddenly a puff of blue mist escaped his mouth and he smiled. "Hi, Ember," he said without turning around.

Ember was disappointed that she couldn't scare him, so she became visible once more, wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and laid her head on his shoulder.

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked, pouting. Danny just smiled mischievously.

"That would be telling," he teased.

She grabbed his arm. "Come on, you said you'd teach me how to fly today!" she whined. Danny smiled and rolled his eyes, but followed her upstairs. He carried her bridal style as they flew to the park.

An hour and a half passed, and little progress was made. Until…

"Okay, now I want you to jump, and concentrate real hard on hovering in place."

Ember obeyed, for what seemed like the millionth time. She closed her eyes and jumped as high as she could. She only opened her eyes when she didn't feel her feet hit the ground. She let a wide grin cross her face as she floated a few feet above the ground. Danny clapped and congratulated her.

She decided to test out her newfound ability. She concentrated on moving forward, slowly, and she began to inch forward. She tried the same thing in every direction, including ascending and descending. Soon, she and Danny were flying loops over the park.

She grinned to herself. She couldn't wait to show her mom.

 **LINEBREAK/TIMESKIP: A MONTH LATER**

Danny dodged a flurry of kicks from his mother. It was another one of their training days, and he was fighting Maddie while Jazz and Jack faced off. They had changed locations to the outskirts of the city, because craters in the park were sure to raise suspicion.

His mother pressed him back, never letting him back far enough to take to the air. He was just barely focusing on dodging her attacks when the sound of screams made them freeze.

The entire family whirled around to see an out-of-control school bus slide straight for a cliff, leading to a two hundred-foot drop straight down a rocky gorge.

The Fentons acted immediately. Jazz and Maddie put up an ecto-shield around the pedestrians on the sidewalk to keep them from accidentally wandering into the path of the bus, while Danny and Jack rocketed down the street to try and slow the bus before it went over the side.

As they flew, they could see the children inside screaming for help. They put on a burst of speed as Danny flew in front of the bus and placed his hands on the bumper, pushing with all his strength. Jack held the back bumper and dug his heels into the pavement, leaving two long gouges in the street. Finally, the bus slid to a stop, not three feet away from the edge of the cliff. Danny and Jack both breathed sighs of relief. It was only when Jazz and Maddie flew up to them that they realized everyone was staring at them, slack-jawed.

Danny flew up to the windshield of the bus. "Is everyone all right?" he asked, genuinely concerned. The bus driver nodded mutely, still in awe. Danny nodded, then flew off to rejoin his family. The entire family then went invisible and teleported to the house, where Sam had the TV on.

As they reappeared and reverted back to human form, they watched a bit of TV with her, some show about two brothers and a man in a trench coat went around the country hunting demons in a '67 Impala while their two British teammates, an ace detective with superhuman deductive skills and a crazy guy in a trench coat who traveled time and space in a blue phone box, investigated possible paranormal phenomena, when a breaking news alert came on the screen.

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this breaking news. It seems that a few short minutes ago, the driver of this school bus dozed off behind the wheel, causing the bus to hit a pothole and spin out of control, headed straight for the local cliff-diving hotspot, Dead Man's Drop. But what happened next, you'll have to see to believe. Here we have some eyewitness footage of what happened."

A video came on the screen that was obviously shot from a cell phone camera, capturing the bus heading straight for the cliff. Suddenly, Danny and Jack shot in from off camera and slowed the bus down, stopping it before it reached the edge. The camera zooms in on the Fentons as Jazz and Maddie fly up to them.

"According to eyewitnesses, the white-haired figure is actually the ghost teen sighted at the Three Days Grace concert earlier this week. According to eyewitnesses, the other three figures captured in the video are ghosts as well. We'll bring you more details as we receive them. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming."

The Fentons glanced at each other. Jack then stood up.

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess we're superheroes now," he said, a grin slowly working its way onto his face. This was mirrored by his family.

"Aw, crap, we forgot to start patrols!" Maddie cried, slapping a hand to her forehead.

They decided that Jazz and Maddie would search the east and west sides of the city, respectively, and Jack and Danny would take the north and south.

They transformed and flew off to patrol their sectors.

Four hours later, the Fentons met up in the living room and reverted back to their human forms. They then proceeded to tell the others about their patrol.

Maddie and Jazz both had uneventful nights, whereas Danny interrupted a mugging and Jack ended a police chase. Everyone went wide-eyed until Jack explained that all he did was overshadow the driver and make him pull over, then exit the man invisibly once he was in handcuffs.

They invited Tucker over for dinner, consisting of homemade meatloaf with mashed potatoes and brown gravy. Danny, Sam and Tucker chatted for a while before Tucker had to leave. After he left, Sam sat down to watch TV while Danny went to his room to FaceTime Ember.

He flopped down on the bed and transformed before he initiated the call. He wasn't quite ready to tell her his secret yet. On the third ring she answered, smiling. "Hey Babypop, what's up?" she asked. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Babypop? That's new," he said. Ember blushed and started to stammer out an apology when Danny cut her off. "I like it, Emy," he said, and Ember blushed harder at her new pet name. They chatted for a while before Ember's mom called her down for dinner. After promising to visit tomorrow, he ended the call.

The next morning, Danny woke up early and quickly got ready for school.

He decided to fly, changing into his ghost form before going invisible and intangible and phasing through his wall, then shooting off in the direction of Casper High.

He was in the process of choosing a suitable spot to land and transform when something caught his eye. He saw a blond football player shove a petrified freshman against a wall. With his enhanced hearing, he caught what was said.

"Alright, punk, cough it up! My protection ain't free ya know!"

Angry, Danny flew up behind the jock and turned visible. He morphed his legs into a ghostly tail and tapped the jock on the shoulder.

"Ah, whaddaya want, you…you…" Whatever he was about to say died in his throat as he beheld the floating ghost teen.

Danny smiled, and the jock visibly gulped when he saw Danny's fangs.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Danny asked innocently.

The jock's knees started shaking, and other people started staring and pointing at Danny. He paid them no mind, smirking.

"Boo."

The jock set a new school record for the fastest 100 meter dash.

Danny turned back to the freshman. "You ok, kid?" he asked. The kid nodded, before smiling. "Thanks," he said. Danny smiled back. "No problem, kid. Name's Phantom, let me know if he keeps giving you problems." The kid nodded. "I'm Michael, nice to meet you!" He waved over his shoulder as he ran into the building.

It was then Danny noticed all the students staring at him, some with cell phone cameras. He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh…bye!"

He went invisible and flew to a deserted alley a few blocks away to transform. He poked his head out of the alley and ran the rest of the way to school. He made it with about ten minutes to spare, so he decided to go to his first period class early.

A few boring hours later, it was lunchtime. As he sat down to eat, he noticed that kid from earlier, Michael, was being picked on again by the same jock. He sighed before slipping out of the cafeteria and into a janitors closet, where he transformed. He phased out of the closet and flew invisibly up behind the jock, the same way he had earlier that morning.

"You just don't learn, do you?" he said, becoming visible once more and morphing his legs into a tail.

The jock visibly jumped and whirled around. He paled as he recognized Danny.

By this time, the entire cafeteria had gone quiet.

Danny narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs.

"If I see you or any of your friends mess with him again…" he started, before looking around the cafeteria with a thoughtful expression.

"…I think these walls would look good in red, don't you?"

The jock literally pissed himself and ran.

Danny looked around at the shocked faces of the students and sighed. "You guys can ask me five questions," he said.

A timid-looking freshman raised his hand. "Wh-Who are you?" he asked in a small voice. Danny smiled. "You can call me Phantom," he said simply. "Next?"

A junior raised his hand. "Are you a ghost?" he asked. Danny nodded.

A senior girl spoke up next. "How did you die?" she asked softly.

"Electrocution," Danny said flatly. There were visible winces in the crowd of students, and he knew what they must be thinking. What a way to go.

A sophomore raised his hand. "Are you a good ghost?" he asked. Danny nodded. "I help out whoever needs it, and I patrol the south side of the city every night if anyone wants to have a chat.," he said.

A teacher raised her hand last. "How old were you when you died?" she asked.

Danny gave a convincing wince. "Fourteen," he said softly, and many people's expressions softened. He was so young, they couldn't help but sympathize.

"And that's the last question!" Danny said, regaining his composure. He flew out of the cafeteria invisibly and phased into the men's restroom to transform.

He walked out, and listened in on people's conversations.

All of them focused on one thing: the ghost boy.

Danny smiled. If only they knew…

The next day, Danny flew through the Ghost Zone on his way to Ember's.

They had been dating for a few months now, and Danny finally decided it was time to tell her. He talked to his family about it, and they agreed with his decision, then surprised him by saying that they would reveal their secret to her too.

With this in mind, Danny knocked on the door. Ember answered the door and gave him a kiss.

"Hey, Babypop. Whatcha wanna do today?" she asked.

"Let's go to my house. I want to show you something."

Confused, Ember shrugged. "Okay then," she said, and they took off for the portal.

When they had flown through, Ember was surprised to see Danny's entire family in their ghost forms. Danny walked over to them and faced her.

"Danny? What's going on?" Ember asked nervously.

"Promise me you won't freak out until after I explain everything?" Danny asked.

Ember was confused, but she nodded.

Then her jaw dropped as colored rings went over Danny and his family, changing their appearance.

"Oh…my…god…you guys are the halfas? You guys are famous in the Zone!" Ember exclaimed. Danny just gave her a mischievous smile. "So how's it feel to be dating a celebrity?" he said cheekily. Ember rolled her eyes but smiled.

"So, Ember, I'd like to formally reintroduce you to my family," Danny said. "This is my father, Jack Fenton, my mother, Maddie, and my sister, Jazz." Ember smiled. "It's nice to officially meet you," she said. The Fentons just grinned.

Danny took Ember with him on patrol that night. They flew around the south end of the city, keeping an eye out for trouble. Having found nothing so far, they decided to take a break at the top of the clock tower, on top of City Hall.

Ember leaned against Danny and put her head on his shoulder, and he slid his arm around her waist. Both shared the same thought: _I don't want this to ever end._

They didn't know how long they stayed up there, but frankly they didn't care.

In those moments, everything was perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! In this chapter, we introduce Vlad and Johnny! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 4**

All was quiet in Amity Park in the morning hours. That silence was shattered by a surprised and joyful scream from two teenage halfas.

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US UNCLE VLAD WAS VISITING?" Danny and Jazz screamed in unison.

"Because we wanted it to be a surprise," said Maddie. "But SOMEONE," she looked pointedly at her husband, who suddenly gained an interest in the wall, "had to go and ruin it!"

"Wait, didn't that ghost we met say Vlad was a halfa too?" Jazz said. "What was his name? Stopwatch? No…Grandfather Clock? That's not it…" she trailed off, mumbling.

"Clockwork?" Danny supplied, and Jazz snapped her fingers. "That's it! Clockwork said that Vlad's a halfa too!" she exclaimed.

Jack and Maddie looked thoughtful. "Well, we'll drop it into a conversation and see how he reacts," Maddie said. At the incredulous looks from her children, she quickly continued. "We can say it's part of our ghost research, which isn't _technically_ a lie," she said.

"So, when does he get here?" Danny asked excitedly. Even as he said it, the doorbell rang.

Danny and Jazz were off the couch and at the door in 0.5 seconds flat. Jack timed it.

They opened the door to a slender, silver-haired man in his 40s, with his long hair tied back in a ponytail. He saw who answered the door and smiled widely.

"Well? Am I just going to stand here or am I going to get a hug from my favorite niece and nephew?" he mock-pouted.

"UNCLE VLAD!" The teens threw themselves at him, wrapping him in a hug that almost knocked him over.

"Whoa! Good to see you too!" he chuckled as he regained his balance.

"Now stand still, I've got presents for you," he said, and the teens' faces lit up like Christmas trees.

Vlad laughed and reached in his bag.

"For you, Jazz, the latest teen reading sensation, the _Inviso-Bill_ series," he said, handing Jazz a box set of books.

Jazz squealed in delight and hugged her uncle.

"And Danny, I talked with your father about your hobbies, and he said you enjoy watching fencing?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow. Danny blushed but nodded.

Vlad reached in the bag again and Danny's jaw dropped.

In Vlad's hands were four identical Cavalry sabers (AN: Google "Civil War sword"). He handed them to Danny, before pulling out two more.

"Two of those swords are unsharpened, but the other two are. I happen to be an accomplished swordsman myself, so we can train through the duration of my visit, and you're welcome to come by my place anytime," he said. "And we will train with the _unsharpened_ swords, if you please, because blood is very hard to get out of carpet."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you speak from experience," he said.

Vlad looked sheepish. "I may or may not have had an…unfortunate incident…whilst carrying sharpened swords," he said, his tone saying clearly "I don't want to talk about it."

Danny nearly crushed Vlad with the force of his hug. Jack came over and clapped a massive hand on Vlad's shoulder with a gleam in his eye. Vlad groaned.

"Oh, no, I've seen that look before, it's what got us into so much trouble in high school," he said.

"I resent that Vladdie! Besides, I wasn't the one who let the weasel into Mr. Hartman's air vent!" Jack defended.

Everyone was silent. Danny spoke up. "There's a story behind that, and I think it should be told," he said with a smile. "Later," Jack and Vlad said simultaneously.

"Mads and I were in the lab when we came across a rare breed of ghost! Called a "halfa" I think," Jack said, furrowing his brow in what the rest of his family knew was a fake look of thought. They watched Vlad for his reaction.

They were not disappointed. Vlad visibly jumped. "Where did you hear that term?" he said in a low voice.

Jack's face softened. He had Vlad right where he wanted him. "You know what they are?" he asked.

Vlad nodded, a look of confusion on his face.

"You are one, aren't you?" Dang, Maddie. Straight to the point, as usual.

Vlad paled and saw he had no escape, so he simply hung his head and nodded.

A black ring appeared around his waist, then split. Vlad went from a silver haired human to a blue-skinned, red eyed, vampire-ish ghost, with his now black hair spiked up into two horn-like spikes. He wore a white tunic, white pants, a white cape with a red inside, and black boots and gloves.

He looked up to see the Fentons smiling at him. He was confused. "This is either the part where you run away screaming, or the part where you try to eradicate me," he said.

He was shocked to say the least when colored rings appeared around the Fentons' waists and changed them into their ghost forms.

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"Surprise, Vladdie!" Jack boomed in his echo-y voice.

"You…aren't trying to kill me?" Vlad said in shock.

"Nope. And we never will," Jack replied, turning serious. "You're family, Vlad. Whether you're a human, ghost, or…something in between," he said with a wide smile.

For the first time since he got his powers, Vlad felt accepted. He nodded and gripped his old friend in a tight hug.

After he and Jack broke apart, Vlad turned to the kids. "So! How far along are you with your powers?" he asked.

"We've mastered the ecto-energy blasts and all that, but Danny still needs a tutor for his ice powers and I need one for my fire powers," Jazz said, and Vlad smiled.

"Well, Jasmine, I believe you've got yourself a tutor," he said, and held out his hand, palm up. A ball of fire was burning an inch above his palm. Jazz was shocked, but soon grinned so wide her father was almost jealous.

"Daniel, I believe I may have found you a tutor as well," Vlad said, turning to Danny.

"Who?" asked the teen, excited.

"His name is Frostbite, he's the leader of a group of yeti-like ghosts called the Far Frozen. He and all of his kin are masters of cryokinesis. Ice manipulation," he added, seeing the confused look on Danny's face. "He owes me a favor anyway, so this is the perfect time to call it in."

Danny was all smiles the rest of the day.

A week passed, and it was time for Vlad to go. Danny, it was discovered, had a natural affinity for swordsmanship, and a particular prowess in dual-bladed combat.

His ghost form now had the two swords attached to his belt. He, admittedly, poked around Vlad's belongings (as any kid would do) and found a weird looking blueprint. It looked like a gauntlet of some kind, with a blade coming out the bottom.

When he showed it to his father, his face split into a wide smile. He grabbed the blueprints and raced down to the lab.

Four hours later, he called Vlad and Danny into the lab and presented them with their new weapons, which Danny immediately called a "hidden blade", like the kind in a video game series he liked. He wore two, one on each arm. He also started wearing his hood a lot more. Maddie assured the rest of the family that it was just a phase.

Vlad also met Ember, when Danny invited her over for dinner. While Ember's attention was elsewhere, Vlad had leaned over to Danny and whispered, "Nice catch, nephew." Danny had gone red and looked anywhere but a smirking Vlad.

After Vlad left, the family was lounging around when the squealing of tires was heard, followed by a loud crash just outside their door. The family bolted toward the door to find a teen laying unconscious on the sidewalk, the twisted remains of what was once a custom Harley-Davidson chopper laying a few yards away, smoking slightly.

Maddie immediately went into "Mom-mode", running back inside for a first-aid kit.

Jack scooped up the unconscious teen in his gigantic arms and rushed him down to the lab, which was where the medical supplies were. Maddie had cleared off a lab table and was setting up a heart rate monitor. Not many people knew, but Maddie had a doctorate degree in medicine, and could open up a private practice if she wanted to.

"Lay him here," she ordered, and got out some antiseptic pads to clean up the green blood. Wait a minute. Green blood? The realization finally hit her.

"Jack, go to the Fenton Fridge and get the emergency ectoplasm, this kid's a ghost!" she ordered, but Jack was three steps ahead of her. The plastic bag was pressed into her hand as she prepared an I.V. for a transfusion. She slid the needle into the teen's vein and sighed as a bit of color started to return to his pale cheeks. She took in his appearance.

He was wearing black jeans and combat boots, with a black tee shirt and leather jacket. His dirty-blond hair fell over his face, hiding his eyes from view.

"He should be fine in a few minutes," she said, noticing the slight blush on Jazz's cheeks as she looked at the unconscious ghost.

Jack spoke up. "Danny, come help me get his bike into the garage. We might be able to find out what caused his wreck," he said, and Danny nodded.

Upon pushing the bike into said garage, it was immediately clear what caused the accident.

Jack pointed to the front shock absorbers, one of which was cracked so badly it looked like someone had hit it with an axe. "See this shock absorber? I'd bet my secret supply of fudge that that kid hit a pothole or something and blew it out, causing the bike to lean suddenly and throw him off," he said. Danny understood, but something in his explanation caught his attention.

"You have a secret supply of fudge?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

His father reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic baggie full of the stuff, and pressed it into Danny's hand.

"Don't tell your mother."

"Done."

Back inside, Jazz was sitting next to the ghost teen when he started to stir.

"Mom! Dad! Danny! He's waking up!" she called up the stairs, and the rest of her family teleported into the lab.

The teen moved his hair out of his face and groaned, opening his eyes. They were a baby blue, like Jack's in his human form.

He looked around, not recognizing where he was, then his eyes landed on the Fentons, who were all in ghost form.

"Wh-where am I?" he asked, trying and failing to sit up. Maddie put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't try to move yet, your body is still hurt, even with your advanced healing. And to answer your question, you're in Amity Park, Minnesota."

The teen nodded, before trying to sit up again, succeeding this time. Jazz put his arm around her shoulders as he slowly stood up. Maddie, Jack, and Danny all noticed the blush on both of their cheeks as they flew upstairs. They looked at each other. "A week," Danny said immediately. Jack immediately shook his head. "I say two." Maddie walked in between them with her hands raised. "Gentlemen, please. My woman's intuition says a month," she said with a smirk. "Your so-called "woman's intuition" also said the ghost portal would work the first time, and look how that turned out," Danny countered. Maddie and Jack winced. That was a low blow.

Upon teleporting upstairs, they found Jazz setting the teen down on the couch.

"What's your name?" asked Jack with concern in his voice. "Johnny Blaze*. My friends call me either Johnny 13 or just Johnny." "Well, it's nice to meet you, Johnny. I'm Shade, and this is my family. My wife, Specter, my daughter, Flare, and my son, Phantom," he said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

"Good to meet you. Did you happen to see what happened to my bike?" the teen asked with genuine concern. Jack's face fell. "It was smashed up pretty bad, but it should be repairable. We did find the cause of the accident though. You hit a pothole or something and blew out your shock absorber," he explained.

Johnny just gave a sad smile. "I figured. I have the worst luck. That's why my friends call me Johnny 13, 13 is an unlucky number." Suddenly, his shadow moved of it's own accord. Johnny looked down at it. "Shut up, you. I'll let you out once we're out of here." Suddenly, the sound of footsteps caused everyone to look up.

Sam came down the stairs and immediately her eyes landed on Johnny. "JOHNNY?! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed. Johnny smiled. "I was testing out my bike and wrecked," he explained. Sam turned to Jack and Maddie. "I think I owe you an explanation. Before my former mom married my former dad, she had a relationship with this guy. His last name was Blaze, that's all she told me. Johnny, here, is my half-brother," she said. The Fentons' jaws dropped, then their faces split into a wide smile.

"Any family of Sam's is family to us! Welcome to the Fenton family, Johnny!" Jack bellowed. Johnny was shocked, but grinned all the same.

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered Danny's eyes. "Guess who, babypop?" said a cheerful voice. Danny put on a mock look of thought. "Hello, Ember!" he said, turning around and giving his girlfriend a kiss. Johnny looked dumbstruck. "How in the world did you get the most famous rocker in the Ghost Zone to be your girlfriend?" he demanded. Danny shrugged, but Ember answered for him. "Cuz I like him, that's how. Seriously, Johnny, you need to find someone. You can't marry your bike," she said with a smirk. "Challenge accepted! Ouch…" Johnny exclaimed, jumping of the couch before clutching his head in pain. The family just laughed.

A week later, everything was back to normal. Danny and Ember were getting ready to go to a Bon Jovi concert, and they invited Johnny and Jazz, who only agreed when each heard the other was going.

They floated to the top of the stadium and listened as the band played "Wanted Dead or Alive". For the afterlife of her, Ember just couldn't figure out the chords to the opening. Danny had given up a long time ago.

All of a sudden, the stadium darkened. Murmurs and whispers of confusion spread through the crowd. Then…

" _Shot through the heart,_

 _And you're to blame!_

 _You give love, a bad name!"_

The stadium exploded. Danny was shamelessly playing air guitar while Ember, Johnny, and Jazz laughed. He just grinned his signature lop-sided grin and kept "playing".

After the song ended, Johnny left, claiming he needed to use the restroom. Two minutes later, Jazz left too, for the same reason. Danny and Ember looked at each other with a raised eyebrow, turned invisible, and followed.

What they found was pretty much what they expected.

Jazz and Johnny were lip-locked, kissing each other passionately, ignoring the looks they got from passersby. At least, they ignored them until Danny cleared his throat and became visible, effectively clearing the stadium.

Jazz and Johnny broke apart and looked at Danny sheepishly, then glared at the openly laughing Ember, who had become visible as well.

Danny fist-pumped the air. "YES! I win the bet!" He quickly pulled out his cell phone and FaceTimed his parents. He was glad that he took the time to teach them how to use the app, so now they could look at him while talking to him.

His parent's faces, in ghost form, filled the screen and raised an eyebrow at him when they saw his grin.

"I win," he said, and turned the phone so his parents could see Johnny and Jazz, who still had their arms wrapped around each other.

The speaker feedback caused by his mother's squeal almost deafened all four of them.

"I knew it! I KNEW it!" she yelled triumphantly, knowing full well she lost the bet but she didn't care.

"WHAT? MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!" Jack yelled, his massive hands clamped over his sensitive ears. The speaker feedback may have been bad, but he had it worse. He was there for the real thing.

"You each owe me twenty bucks," Danny said smugly before he ended the call.

Jazz was about to launch herself at her brother and start strangling him when a blast of blue light smacked Danny in the chest and threw him into a wall, his chest smoking.

The three teens whirled around and saw two men in white suits, one holding a smoking weapon that looked like a ray gun.

"Freeze, ghost scum! Surrender, and you will be subjected to the slightly less painful of our experiments!" one of them yelled.

Jazz was furious. She called forth the fire within her, like Vlad had taught her, and blasted the two men with a torrent of flames. They just barely managed to jump out of the way. They returned fire, but Johnny and Jazz dodged just in time.

Ember wasn't so lucky. As she tried to dodge, she tripped and lost her balance, and the blast hit her in the thigh, leaving a nasty burn and effectively crippling her.

As the men raised their weapons to deliver the final blow, a black blur launched itself at them and knocked them back fifty feet. Ember looked up as her savior walked over to her.

"Are you okay, Ember?" Danny asked. Ember shook her head and pointed to her leg, unable to talk. Danny took one look at the wound and turned so he was in between her and the men. As they raised their weapons he bellowed "You DARE…hurt…my…GIRLFRIEND!" At the last word, green sonic waves flew out of his mouth, and the most horrible noise came from his throat. It sounded like the moaning of a million ghosts. He clamped his mouth shut and drew his swords.

He flew over to the men, who were picking themselves up, and attacked with a flurry of strikes at super-speed. He abruptly sheathed his swords and turned back to the three awestruck teens. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The men's weapons fell to the ground, sliced and diced. He snapped his fingers again.

Their suits and pants fell away, slashed to ribbons, leaving them standing in the middle of the street in nothing but sunglasses, shoes, and tightie-whities.

Jazz, Johnny, and Danny all pulled out their phones and snapped a picture as the two men frantically tried to cover themselves.

Danny picked Ember up, bridal-style, and the four teens flew away, ignoring the screams of rage from the two men.

Upon landing in the lab, Danny set Ember on the table and called Jazz, who came over. "What's up, bro?" she asked.

"Ember got burned on her leg pretty bad, and it needs cleaning," he said. Jazz raised an eyebrow. Danny facepalmed and pointed to the burn.

"If that burn's gonna get cleaned, she would need to take off her pants," he said quickly. "I don't think either of us are comfortable with that yet, and you're the only other girl here, so you should do it," he reasoned, and Jazz nodded.

Ember, on the other hand, blushed. Danny wanted to make sure she was okay, but he still respected her privacy. She wondered if they were at that stage in their relationship where…nah. But still…maybe? She decided to ask Danny when they got some alone time.

Danny kissed her, grabbed Johnny by the arm, and flew through the ceiling into the living room.

Jack and Maddie raised an eyebrow.

"Where are Jazz and Ember?" asked Jack.

"Downstairs. Ember got burned on her leg from an ecto-weapon." Danny explained what happened at the concert.

"And you aren't down there for what reason?" Maddie asked in a voice that promised pain if she was lied to.

"Because the burn is in an area on her leg that would require her to take off her pants to clean properly, and I wanted to respect her privacy," Danny said. "Jazz is patching her up." Maddie nodded, satisfied.

A few minutes later, Jazz called up the stairs. "Danny? Could you grab some gym shorts? Ember's pants are ruined."

"Make sure she's invisible!" he yelled back before going to get the shorts.

He went down to the lab and knocked on the door, and waited before Jazz opened it a bit before handing her the shorts. A few minutes later, Ember came out, supported by Jazz, and Danny carried her upstairs.

After dinner, everyone decided to go to bed early. Ember's mom had been called and notified of everything that happened. She had insisted that Ember stay there overnight, just to be safe. So, she and Jazz took over Jazz's room while Johnny and Danny stayed in Danny's room. They chatted about cars and bikes, got into a quiet yet heated debate over whether the Shelby GT500 was better than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

"I swear, Johnny, Dodge's Hellcat is like a big middle finger to Ford and Chevy!"

"Yeah, a big middle finger from the world's fastest brick!"

"The quarter mile time, on _street tires_ are-"

"Speed isn't just about straight lines! While I admit, a straight line test is the most effective way to measure top-end speed, there's more to a car than power! You have to make sure that if you turn the wheel a bit you aren't going 90 degrees to the left, while at the same time making sure it doesn't have the turning radius of a battleship!"

…And so on.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Jazz and Ember poked their heads in. Jazz had a slight smile on her face as she asked, "Wanna trade roommates?" Everyone instantly agreed. Johnny got up and glared at Danny, saying ,"This isn't over," and followed his girlfriend while Ember snuggled up to Danny on the bed. She waited for the door to close before talking.

"Danny, we need to talk. About us."

Danny looked at her quizzically.

She took a deep breath.

"I…I wanted to know…if we've hit THAT stage in our relationship."

Danny reddened slightly. He may be clueless, but even he knew what THAT stage was. He calmed down.

"Only if you're ready. I won't push you either way, but if it makes you happy, I'm happy," he said with a smile.

Ember thought hard about it. This was a huge sign of commitment they were talking about.

"I…I think so…"

"Ember, you can't think. You have to _know_. This is a huge decision to make. You have to be absolutely sure this is what you want," Danny said seriously.

Ember thought about it some more, and as she thought, the answer became clear to her.

"Yes," she said with conviction. Danny smiled.

"Then I'll back your decision. Just…not tonight. Maybe this weekend or something."

"Why?" asked Ember.

"Seven reasons. Reasons one through five are down the hall. The sixth reason is I don't have any protection, so I'll have to go get some. Reason seven is because for you, it will hurt quite a bit the first time, and I want you to be as comfortable as possible," he said.

Ember blushed at that last part. He was putting his own pleasure aside to make sure her first time was the least painful. He was putting her own well-being above his desires. Again, she wondered how she managed to get such a caring boyfriend.

She snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, the slow rhythm slowly making her drift off to sleep. The last thing she remembered was Danny wrapping his arm around her and saying, "I love you."

 **THE NEXT DAY**

Maddie was sitting at the table with Sam, drinking her morning coffee when Danny came downstairs. She waved him over and he sat down across from her with a slightly worried expression. She smiled.

"You're not in trouble, Danny. I wanted to ask you about that attack you used yesterday. What exactly happened?" she asked.

Danny told her as much as he could remember. Sam looked surprised. Maddie looked thoughtful, then walked over to the computer and pulled up FaceTime. She initiated a call with a number Danny didn't recognize, and Danny was surprised when Vlad's face came on the screen.

"Maddie! This is a nice surprise! What can I do for you?"

"Danny was attacked yesterday and he used an attack he'd never seen before. We were hoping you could help us."

"Absolutely! Now, Daniel, what was the basis of this attack? I mean to say, what kind of attack was it? A punch, a kick?"

"It was a…scream. I screamed, and green sonic waves flew out of my mouth and destroyed a bunch of stuff," Danny said.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "I recognize that attack, having used it before myself. I call it my Banshee Scream, but the premise is the same. It is a scream that has been enhanced by ectoplasm, turning the sound waves into a dangerous weapon. I don't recommend using it in a cave, canyon, or anywhere with an echo," Vlad explained.

"Can I come visit you and we work on it? I have a feeling it will be useful in the future," Danny said. Vlad lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Of course! Bring the whole family! You can even bring Ember and Johnny!" Vlad exclaimed. Danny smiled at his favorite uncle.

"I expect you this weekend!" Vlad said with a smile before logging off. Danny's stomach twisted into knots. He had promised Ember…THAT…this weekend, and he had no idea how it would happen at Vlad's house.

 **THAT WEEKEND**

As it turns out, Danny didn't need to worry about that. The man's house was _gigantic_. There had to have been at least fifty rooms on the first floor alone.

After ringing the doorbell, Vlad answered and took them on a tour. It turns out that Vlad, after graduating Wisconsin Tech with a masters degree (AN: hehehehe) in business management, he built the world's most successful security firm, AXION Labs, and started collecting businesses as his wealth increased. He was now the third-richest man in the world, behind two saps called Bruce Wayne and Bill Gates (AN: Sorry Bill).

The family each had their favorite rooms. Danny loved the fencing arena, Maddie stayed in the training room, Jazz almost locked herself in the library, and it took the combined force of Vlad, Danny, Jazz, and Maddie, all in ghost form, to drag Jack away from the kitchen. He only relented when Vlad promised a spectacular dinner.

Then they visited the lab.

The first thing everyone noticed was the swirling green ghost portal. They all looked at Vlad, who shrugged.

"The prototype portal we made in college exploded, giving me my ghost powers. I managed to find the blueprints and figured out where we went wrong," he explained.

"Was is a design flaw?" Maddie asked. Vlad shook his head with a smile.

"No, your husband put Diet Coke in the portal instead of ecto-purifier."

Jack had the decency to look embarrassed and apologized, but Vlad waved his hand.

"Water under the bridge, old friend. Besides, if anything, I think it gave us more in common," Vlad said with a signature smirk that Jack recognized instantly. It held the same meaning as the mischievous glint he sometimes got in his eye.

His brother from another mother was making a pranking plan, and he wanted in.

Vlad typed in a code into a keypad. The machine beeped three times. "I just connected our portals. Now you can visit whenever you want without flying here," he said. Jack nodded, impressed.

After Vlad's promised dinner, there was a knock at the door. Vlad went to answer it, and came back with Ember and Johnny in tow. Ember promptly sat down next to Danny and laid her head on his shoulder while he played with a lock of her flaming hair, while Johnny sat next to Jazz, the same thing happening. Vlad smiled. He was secretly jealous of his little badger, but he would never tell him that.

That night, Ember and Danny officially made their relationship physical. Danny silently thanked God that Vlad just _happened_ to put him in a soundproof room.

The next morning, Maddie and Jack sat at the table, talking about ghosts and such, when Danny and Ember walked downstairs. The parents immediately recognized the glow surrounding Ember, but they didn't mind. Danny and Ember really loved each other, and they had been dating for almost a year now. It was bound to happen eventually. Jack caught Danny's eye. He used his eyes to look pointedly at Ember, then back to Danny, who went red as he slowly realized what his father was implying. Jack said nothing, just gave Danny a thumbs-up when Maddie wasn't looking.

Suddenly, Danny had a thought. "Hey Uncle Vlad, when was the last time you went on a date with someone?" he asked. While Vlad thought, he and Ember had a quick whispered conversation, and Ember enthusiastically agreed.

"Well, I would say it's been quite a few years now. Why?" Vlad asked suspiciously.

"Because I think I just found you one," Danny said with a smile.

That evening, Danny, Ember, Johnny, Jazz, Maddie, Jack, and Vlad all went out eat. They went to a fancy Mexican restaurant called Mi Cocina, where they waited for Vlad's date.

Soon, she arrived in the limo Vlad had sent to pick her up from the Fentons'.

As Vlad opened the door, Ellen thanked him, blushing slightly as she took in Vlad's appearance. When Vlad blushed as well, the Fentons plus Johnny and Ember all looked at each other. Bingo. Could Danny and Ember play matchmaker or what?

The next morning, Vlad and Danny were up early, flying in the pasture behind Vlad's mansion.

"Now when you want to use the ecto-scream or whatever you want to call it, make sure you bring the right amount of ecto-energy from your core to your throat. Too little energy, and your target won't be affected. Too much, and you risk injuring yourself," Vlad explained. "I'll demonstrate. Cover your ears," he warned, before taking a deep breath.

The sound that came out of his mouth was like a heavy-metal scream, except slightly lower pitched and MUCH louder. Red sonic waves came forth from Vlad's mouth, flattening everything it their path.

Vlad stopped screaming, and the last of the waves dissipated. "Now you try," he said.

Danny gulped, then gathered the energy. After triple-checking to make sure it was the right amount, he took a deep breath and screamed.

The result was devastating. His scream lasted a shorter time than Vlad's, but it was much more powerful. When he finally stopped screaming, Vlad looked at him incredulously.

"That was…unexpected," he said.

"Now you have to name it. Banshee Scream is taken, by the way," he said with a pointed look. Danny thought about it before finding a name that he thought suited the attack quite well.

"I'll call it my Ghostly Wail," he said proudly. Vlad smiled. "Apt, considering what it sounded like. Now," he said, as he drew two swords and smiled, "have you been practicing, little badger?" Danny winced at the nickname and drew his own swords. "You bet, fruitloop!" Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Fruitloop? Never heard that one before…" he mused, before smiling. Danny had put up with the 'little badger' nickname, so it was only fair.

After an hour of sparring, both were too tired to continue. After returning to the mansion, Danny showered and flew down to the living room, where Ember sat watching a horror movie, gripping a pillow as though her life depended on it. Deciding that scaring her would be a dick move, he made sure to walk in front of the couch and sit close to her. She immediately abandoned the pillow in favor of him.

Danny noticed the look in her eye, and the fact that she was trembling. He looked at the movie and immediately made the connection. The movie showed a man in a weird mask lighting a match and dropping it to the ground, causing a line of gasoline to ignite and engulf a house in flames, screams coming from the inside. Danny realized that that was how she died. Someone burned her house down with her and her mom still inside.

Danny immediately shut the movie off and held Ember close. She was still shaking as silent sobs racked her body. Danny stroked her flaming hair and whispered encouraging words to her, which eventually calmed her down.

She then told him about her insane father, how he thought her mother was cheating on him when she wasn't, and how in his paranoia burned their house to the ground with Ember and Ellen trapped inside.

She looked up at Danny only to find his eyes were glowing a venomous green, his fangs bared. "Where is he?" he growled. "He works at the Wal-Mart just outside of town," Ember said, and Danny kissed her and stood. Vlad came out from the doorway and stood next to him and Ember. He was shaking with barely-restrained fury. "I heard everything. Let's teach this asshole a lesson he won't soon forget," he snarled, transforming and baring his fangs, his eyes glowing blood red. With that, he and Danny shot intangibly through the ceiling, only to be met with the rest of the Fentons, and Johnny. "We want to go too, this guy's gonna pay," Johnny said, twirling a heavy chain at his side. Danny and Vlad nodded, then took off.

They found the wretched excuse of a man pushing shopping carts in the parking lot.

The Fentons, Johnny, and Vlad all descended in a circle, effectively trapping him.

"Are you Frederic McLain?" Danny asked with venom in his voice. Frederic nodded.

"Ellen and Amber say hi," Vlad spat. Ellen had told him Ember's name while living. Frederic immediately turned angry.

"That cheating bitch deserv-" He was cut off as Jack's massive fist slammed into his stomach. He staggered and threw a punch at Jack's stomach, but it was futile. Trying to punch Jack was like trying to hit a brick wall. He fell to the ground, with Danny, Jack, and Vlad all standing over him, fangs bared.

"You burned them alive you pitiful excuse of a man!" yelled Vlad, planting a boot into the man's kidney, hard. By now, people were staring, and filming the incident on their phones.

"And now, you'll suffer the same fate," said Jazz.

Jack grabbed the man by the back of his neck and everyone teleported to the inside of an abandoned shack on the outskirts of town. Jack threw the man to the ground and everyone teleported outside. "Jazz, if you would," said Danny with pure malice.

Jazz bathed the shack in a torrent of fire, ignoring the agonized screams coming from within. After a moment, everything was silent, except for the crackling of the flames. They all teleported to Vlad's mansion, and Danny immediately went to comfort Ember.

The rest of the family sighed and went to the living room and turned on the TV. A news report was on.

"In other news, the hometown ghost heroes were spotted today in Wisconsin, where they, along with two other ghosts, cornered one Frederic McLain. McLain was accused of two counts of first-degree capital murder, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. We now go to eyewitness footage."

The family watched as the phone camera captured everything, including audio.

"That cheating [bleep] deserv-" Jack sank his fist into Frederic's stomach.

"Probably broke some ribs there, Dad."

"Good."

Then Jack grabbed him and they teleported away.

"The fate of Mr. McLain remains unknown, and no search has been called. Back to you, Jim."

Johnny got up to check on Danny and Ember, since he lost the "nose goes" game.

As he went up the stairs, he heard a soft moan coming from a slightly open door. Immediately recognizing that he was swimming in dangerous waters, he floated an inch above the floor and silently closing the door. He knew what was happening without having to look. _Nice job, bro,_ he thought.

"Well how are they?" asked Jazz when Johnny came downstairs.

"They're fine."

 **That's it for this chapter! I will introduce Danielle in the next one, and I will start a poll on how you want the relationship to be!**

 **Brother/Sister**

 **Father/Daughter**

 **Cousins**

 **Also, I plan on introducing a few antagonists next chapter! So…(spoiler alert) BEWARE!**

 *** I don't know why but I felt a Ghost Rider reference was needed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again! In this chapter, we introduce Danielle! Due to the amount of reviews on the last chapter, we finally have our winner! Dani is set to be Danny's…(drum roll)…DAUGHTER! And we introduce the first antagonist! I wonder who it will be…? Read and find out!**

 **Chapter 5**

Danny woke up to a warm sensation on his chest. He looked down and saw Ember snuggled up to him, using his chest as a pillow. For the life of him, he couldn't understand how she could fall asleep there, his chest muscles could cut diamonds, ever since he started training with Vlad. Since the day training started, and it had been going on for a few weeks, Danny gained a large amount of muscle, and he now had the body of a god. You could grind meat on his abs.

He sighed contentedly. This action caused Ember to stir, then open her dazzling green eyes. Her eyes locked with his and she smiled. "Morning, babypop," she said sleepily.

"Morning to you too, Emy," Danny replied.

CRASH.

Danny and Ember literally flew out of bed, Danny shifting into his ghost form as he did so.

Vlad poked his head through the floor. "What the HELL was that?!" he demanded. Danny shrugged and phased outside.

What he saw angered him to no end.

A ghost girl, no older than six, was standing with her back against the wall of the mansion. In front of her were roughly fifty of the white-suited jackasses that tried to attack Danny at the Bon Jovi concert.

As he watched, the girl fell to her knees, too tired to keep fighting.

In an instant, Danny and Vlad were in front of her, shielding her from the white-suited men. One raised his weapon. "Back, ecto-scum! This ghost escaped containment and must be-" He was cut off by Vlad and Danny growling, "Shut up," simultaneously. Danny and Vlad looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Vlad scooped up the ghost girl and phased into the mansion as Danny took a deep breath.

Then he unleashed his ultimate attack: the Ghostly Wail.

The result was…well, the area hospital had a lot of new patients.

As Danny phased into the mansion, he saw Vlad and the rest of his family surrounding the ghost girl, who was asleep on the couch.

Danny took in her appearance. With the exception of her gender and the noticeable lack of fangs, she looked like his little sister. She even styled her white hair the same way he did, including the ponytail, which he gained from letting his hair grow out.

Suddenly a white ring identical to Danny's appeared around her waist. The Fentons and Vlad watched, astonished, as the ring divided, going up and down her body until a raven-haired preteen girl lay where the ghost girl was moments before.

Jazz rounded on Danny. "I thought we were the only halfas in existence!" she said. "How is she one?"

Danny shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Suddenly, the girl stirred. Finally she opened her eyes. They were the same blue that Danny's were. She looked around frantically around her unfamiliar surroundings before she looked up at the Fentons, scared.

"W-where am I?" she asked, her voice wavering.

Danny smiled softly at her and to everyone's surprise she visibly calmed.

"You're in Wisconsin, at Vlad Masters' mansion. I'm Danny, Danny Fenton, also known as Phantom."

"D-Danielle…Fenton."

"What?"

She pulled a manila envelope out of her pocket and handed it to Danny.

"I stole this from those guys out there when I busted out. I don't know what it says, something about DNA samples or something," Danielle explained.

Danny took the envelope and opened it. He examined the contents, and his face turned pale. "What's wrong?" asked Vlad. Danny said nothing, he just handed him the paper that was in the envelope. His eyes widened as he read the contents aloud.

 _Name: Phantom, Danielle "Dani"_

 _Age: 6 yrs._

 _Sex: F_

 _Info: Danielle is the first stable clone we have of the ghost kid known as "Phantom". Has all basic ghostly abilities. No other information._

 _DNA Test:_

 _Father: Phantom_

 _Mother: Ember McLain_

The Fenton family plus Johnny and Ember went wide-eyed at the last two lines.

"WHAT?!" Jazz, Maddie, and Ember screeched.

"Guys, calm down, you're scaring her," he said as he sat next to Danielle and she snuggled up to him, a fearful look in her eye. She met Danny's soft expression and felt her worries fade away.

Ember also softened at the sight of the two together. She smiled.

"Well, the paper doesn't lie. Welcome to the family, Danielle!" she said enthusiastically, making the girl's face brighten. She gave a familiar lop-sided grin that everyone recognized. "Oh yeah, she's Danny's daughter all right," laughed Johnny. Danny smiled at that and pulled Danielle into a hug. Then he remembered her story, how she had broken out of unlawful imprisonment.

He turned to Danielle. "Who were those guys? They attacked me last week, do you know them?" he asked.

"They call themselves the Guys In White, or the GIW for short," Danielle explained. "They're a government agency dedicated to hunting and destroying any and all ghosts." Danny abruptly stood up and transformed, shocking Danielle. She nearly had a heart attack when Vlad and the rest of the Fentons minus Sam, Johnny and Ember followed suit. Now there were five halfas, two full ghosts, and a human all surrounding Danielle, and all of them were royally pissed.

"Where are they?" Danny growled. Danielle told them, and they looked at each other before Danny picked Danielle up and phased through the wall, rocketing towards the GIW headquarters, his family hot on his heels…well, ghost tail. Jack was carrying Sam on his back, and she was sharpening some throwing knives.

They landed in a clearing, and Sam and Danielle were told to stay there while the rest of the family handled the GIW. Danny drew his swords, Vlad flicked out his hidden blades, and Jazz filled her hands with fiery energy. Johnny unhooked his chain and started twirling it, and Ember unstrapped her guitar. They turned invisible as they snuck up on the two guards. With a quick movement, both were unconscious, their weapons stripped and destroyed. Then the family moved into the base.

Suddenly, there were at least 100 GIW agents, who managed to separate Maddie from the group. The rest of the family just watched lazily from the ceiling as Maddie was surrounded. She just smirked and slid into a fighting stance.

What followed was one of the most brutal and one-sided beatdowns Danny had ever seen. His mother was a weapon of mass destruction, each punch and kick signaling lights out for a GIW agent.

After Maddie had knocked them all unconscious, the Fentons piled all the agents into one big heap in the middle of the room, then went down a hallway labeled "Containment".

All of the cells were empty, except for one. It was the last one on the row, next to one that looked like a bomb went off inside. _That's my girl,_ Danny thought, grinning.

They reached the cell and observed its occupant. It was a massive green and black werewolf, and it backed against the wall, growling, before Danny put his hands up.

"Easy, big guy. We're not going to hurt you," he said soothingly. The werewolf sniffed him for a second, then nodded.

" _Bonvolu helpi min , amiko . Mi estas Wulf , kaj mi devas eliri el tie,"_ he said, and Vlad nodded.

" _Ne maltrankviliĝu , amiko Wulf . Ni ricevos vin,"_ he said in return, and Danny looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Esperanto. A dead language that I picked up. Now it seems to be of some use," Vlad explained.

Danny froze the door, then Jack punched it off its hinges. Wulf came out, stretching and popping his back, before grabbing Danny in a hug, tail wagging happily.

" _Dankon amiko! Mi estos eterne en via ŝuldo!"_ he exclaimed, almost crushing Danny with the force of his hug.

"You're welcome!" Danny gasped.

Wulf set him down, then extended a set of wicked-looking claws. He raised his arm above his head and slashed downwards.

There was the sound of fabric ripping, and a portion of the air was torn away to reveal a swirling green portal. Vlad's eyes widened.

"Now I remember! Wulf, the Traveler! His claws can open up portals through time and space!" he exclaimed.

Wulf waved goodbye before jumping into the portal, which closed behind him.

After picking up Danielle and Sam, they flew back to the Masters estate.

That night, Ember woke up to find Danny was no longer with her.

She put on a robe over her pajamas and walked into the living room, where she found him staring out the window.

"You okay, babypop?" she asked softly. Danny shook his head.

Footsteps behind her told her they were not alone.

She turned around to see Johnny, Jazz, Maddie, Jack, and Vlad all standing in the entryway.

"You couldn't sleep either, I see," Vlad said softly. There was silence from Danny. Then…

"We…we killed him."

Everyone felt the weight of his words as he said them. They knew exactly who he was talking about: Frederic McLain.

"What's past is past, little badger," Vlad said, trying to calm the boy before he exploded.

Big mistake.

"SO THAT MAKES IT OKAY?!" Danny roared. "WHAT JUSTIFIES THE KILLING OF ANOTHER PERSON?! HUH?! NOTHING!" He sank to his knees and put his head in his hands.

"What good comes from killing? Nothing. Killing creates more problems than it solves. Not to mention, I'm a father now. How can I set an example if we just burned a man to death? I would be contradicting myself! I-" Danny was cut off as Ember placed a hand over his mouth.

"Danny, listen to me. In killing my father, you helped me bury my past. A past I wish I didn't have," she said, then gave him a small smile. "Besides, now we can look forward to the future," she whispered, lacing her fingers through his. Danny looked in her eyes and gave a small smile, his anger not quite diminished yet. "Right," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Daddy…?"

He looked up to see a sleepy-eyed Danielle standing in the entryway, a stuffed panda dangling from one hand.

"Daddy, you okay?" she asked while trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

Any previous anger Danny had melted as he picked up his daughter.

"Daddy's fine, baby girl. Let's get you back to bed," he said softly, every ounce of his anger gone.

He looked back at his family as Danielle passed out against his shoulder.

"I swear to you, I will never kill again. Regardless of circumstances or if they deserve it. It's not our place to judge when a man lives or dies," he said with such conviction, it was almost as if he made a new law.

"I swear the same," said Jazz, followed by Johnny, Ember, Maddie, Jack, and Vlad.

Danny nodded and went to put Danielle to bed.

The next morning, Vlad surprised Danny with some unexpected news.

"Little badger, we've been putting off your cryokinesis training for too long. It's time to see Frostbite," he said.

Danny was a bit apprehensive. He had never been to the Far Frozen before.

Vlad handed him a heavy coat. At Danny's skeptical look, ("It's like 90 degrees outside!") he said, "It's called the Far _Frozen_ for a reason, now put on the damn coat."

One boring flight later, they arrived at the Far Frozen. Vlad had insisted on taking Danny alone, and for several good reasons. They would never be able to drag Maddie out of their lab, Jack would raid their kitchen, and Jazz would take up permanent residence in the library.

That, and they didn't trust ghosts with relatively untrained fire cores. Vlad was an exception because he had gone through extensive training with his fire powers, and Frostbite owed him a favor for saving his life. One would think an 8-foot-tall yeti with cryokinetic powers would be able to beat a stupid ghost snake, but _noooo…_ Frostbite just _had_ to be ophidiophobic.

Vlad growled to himself. He determinedly shoved the memory to the farthest corner of his mind.

Upon reaching the Far Frozen, Danny immediately knew why it was called such. He was thankful that Vlad refused to leave until he put the coat on; this place had to be sub-zero!

Suddenly, two large figures loomed out of the blizzard. Two yeti-like ghosts, the denizens of the Far Frozen, had been sent to receive their visitors. Upon confirmation of identity, the two yetis led the two halfas through the blizzard, until they reached a village. The guards knocked on a large, ornate door, which was soon answered by another yeti, but this one stood at least a foot taller than his brethren. Upon closer inspection, Danny noticed one of his arms was made entirely of ice.

"Ah, Vladimir! What a nice surprise! What can I do for you today?" he said jovially, flinging the door open wide.

"You owe me a favor, Frostbite, and I'm calling it in," said Vlad. Frostbite nodded. "And what would you have of me?" he asked. Vlad gestured to Danny. "My nephew requires training. He is developing his ice core but lacks proper control. I was hoping you could train him for me." The yeti's face split into a smile. Rather, what passed for one due to the large amount of sharp teeth in his mouth.

"It would be a pleasure! Now, then…apologies, I didn't catch your name?" Frostbite said. "You can call me Danny."

"Well then, Danny, if you would be so kind as to show us what you can do? Seeing your current progress will speed things up considerably," Frostbite said, gesturing to some targets nearby. Danny took a deep breath and summoned forth the ice in his core, his hands and eyes glowing a brilliant blue.

He shot six blasts, three from his hands and three from his eyes. The ice beam from his eyes surprised him, he wasn't even aware he could do that. The more he used it, he realized it was insanely easy.

"Progressing to the eye-beams by accident, and already showing a natural affinity for them? Young one, you have shortened your training by days, if not weeks," said Frostbite, impressed.

(AN: I'm going to skip through most of the training here. If you want to know what happens, shoot me a message and I'll send you the scene.)

A few days later, Danny had made incredible progress with his cryokinesis. He could now shoot ice beams from his hands and eyes with ease, as well as make weapons and shields from it. His favorite move he called the "Icy End". It was originally a killing blow, altered a bit to allow a non-fatal-yet-extremely-painful wound. Danny was determined to stick to his vow, even if it meant altering the way he fought. "Icy End" consisted of Danny applying ice to his hands and elbows, turning them into blades. He would then fly at his opponent and slash at super speed, with the finishing move being a large ice spike through the chest. However, to suit Danny's needs, he altered the move to be a devastating blow to the chest with a fist encased in ice.

He also liked his second-favorite, "Ice Age". It was a move similar to his Ghostly Wail, except this attack was a breath, not a scream. Danny would call forth the ice energy in his throat (without freezing it-there was a lot of trial-and-error in this stage) and release it after taking a deep breath. The result was a blizzard that poured from Danny's mouth and froze everything in its path, including explosions.

The final named move in his arsenal was called "Halley's Comet" (AN: just to recap, a comet is basically a meteor made of ice). Danny would launch his opponent into the air, before channeling his ice energy into his swords and flying up to them, delivering slashes at super speed. The wounds inflicted by the swords would immediately freeze over, giving the appearance of a large ball of ice. Danny would end the attack with a double overhead slash that breaks the ice and sends the opponent hurtling into the ground, the broken pieces of ice leaving a trail down to the ground, like a comet.

Danny also learned that he could freeze blood and ectoplasm using his abilities. He avoided this attack unless there was no choice.

Eventually, it was time for Danny and Vlad to leave. They bid Frostbite goodbye, and flew off to the portal.

The instant Danny stepped out of the portal, he was rugby-tackled by a black-and-white blur that gave an elated scream of "DADDY!". Danny laughed and ruffled his daughter's hair, causing the young girl to giggle and smile his signature lop-sided grin. Once he extricated himself from her grip, he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, holding onto her legs so she wouldn't fall. He made his way to the living room, where the entire family was gathered around Johnny for some reason.

Maddie looked up. "Ah, there you are, Danny. Come sit down, Johnny has something he wants to say," she said softly. Danny sat down next to Ember, who laid her head on his shoulder. Danielle floated off Danny's shoulders and settled on his lap, leaning back against his chest.

Johnny took a deep breath.

"I don't like to talk about this. I'm going to go through it pretty fast, and please don't ask me to repeat anything," he said. Everyone nodded and he continued.

"I was born a few years before Sam. I was staying with my Dad and we got along great. He built my bike and everything. When he was diagnosed with leukemia, everything went downhill. He started hitting the bottle. Hard. He was a stunt biker, and sometimes he'd have to cancel his show because he was too drunk. One day, he was practicing his signature stunt: a two hundred-foot double backflip over burning cars; his…his back tire slipped on takeoff, and he went headfirst into one of the cars." Johnny was struggling to keep down sobs.

"When I found out, I was shocked. I went riding. It helps me clear my head. I was riding down Highway 10 at about 75, and an 18-wheeler pulled out in front of me. There was nothing I could do. Next thing I know, I wake up in the Ghost Zone." Johnny was now openly crying, and Jazz was rubbing small circles into his back.

"I heard that I had a half-sister, and I decided to visit her. That was about two weeks before you guys helped me," he said, indicating the Fentons.

Sam held her half-brother close. She was determined to never let him out of her sight again. After a few minutes, Jack clapped a hand on Johnny's shoulder and gave his signature wide grin. "Well, Johnny, you're still a part of our family! We got your back no matter what!" he exclaimed proudly, and Johnny was soon crushed in a group hug.

Johnny let the tears fall freely, grateful to finally have a family again.

+LINEBREAK+

That weekend, Danny was up early. He had told Danielle that he had a surprise for her the night before, and she was going crazy trying to figure out what it was. It was funny seeing her watch Danny's every move, waiting for him to let something slip.

Finally, he decided to show her.

That's the reason he was up so freakin' early. Seriously, who wakes up at 9:30?

He walked into Danielle's room and saw her sound asleep. Everyone else was up by now, so they knew what to expect. Danny and Danielle were exactly alike, in that it usually took no less than an act of God to get them up early.

Today, Danny's air horn was that act of God.

Once he got his daughter off the ceiling, he explained that he was going to show her the surprise. She was ready in two minutes flat.

Danielle floated downstairs and found Danny standing by the door, smiling.

She floated up and settled on his shoulders. "Where're we going, Daddy?" she asked. "You'll see," was the only reply.

Without warning, Danny teleported.

They reappeared an instant later at the fairgrounds.

Danielle's eyes went wide with glee. "We're going to the FAIR?!" she squealed, floating off her dad's shoulders and hugging him tightly. Danny smiled. "Anything for my little girl," he said, ruffling her hair and making her giggle.

They floated around the fair for a bit, ignoring the pointing and whispers.

Suddenly, Danny heard a familiar voice.

"No ghost kid here ta save ya now, punk!"

It was that blond jock, and he was still terrorizing Michael, who was now with his little sister. Danny looked over in time to see the jock roughly shove the little girl out of the way so he had a clear path to wail on Michael.

Instantly, Danny's hand closed over the bully's wrist. He locked eyes with the jock and made them glow for effect. "You just made a big mistake," he growled, before sinking his fist into the bully's stomach. Not hard enough to do any lasting damage, just enough to get the point across.

The jock staggered backwards, then turned tail and ran.

Danny looked over at Michael, who was trying to calm down his hysterical sister.

Danny decided that he would try something. It always worked for Danielle whenever she had a nightmare, so it should work for her.

Danny took a deep breath and began to sing a song from the movie _The Hobbit._

 _Far over the misty mountains cold,_

 _To dungeons deep and caverns old,_

 _We must away, ere break of day,_

 _To find our long forgotten gold._

He finished singing and the girl was much calmer, staring at him in awe. Danny gave a gentle smile. "Are you okay?" he asked the girl, and she nodded. Michael poked her in the side and whispered, "Told you he was real."

Suddenly, Danielle flew over. "Daddy? Who's this?" The people who witnessed the event were shocked. The ghost, who was still a kid, had one of his own?

Danny smiled down at his little girl. "This is Michael. Michael, this is my daughter, Danielle."

"H-hello," Danielle said shyly, gripping Danny's leg like a lifeline.

Danny smiled and ruffled her hair, getting a small giggle in return.

"Hi there, Danielle. I'm Michael, and this is my little sister Sarah," Michael said.

"H-hi," Sarah whispered.

Danny smiled and held out a hand, forming an ice diamond and chain. He held it out to Sarah as she stared in awe. Michael eventually took it and put it around her neck. She grinned like a Cheshire Cat and thanked Danny.

Danny looked down at his watch. "Sorry, but we have to go. It was great to see you again, Michael!" he said, giving Michael a fist-bump.

"Till later, man," Michael said as Danny and Danielle disappeared with a whirl of snow.

Ember was waiting for them when they returned.

"How was the fair?" she asked and Danielle went into a rapid-fire account of five hours of daddy/daughter bonding time in a single breath.

When Danielle finally stopped for air, Danny interjected. "Dani, how about you go play a prank on your Aunt Jazz? I hear Uncle Vlad has some great ideas, and I bet you can get Grandpa to help you," he said quickly, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to resist. He could barely restrain the urge himself.

When Danielle's face split into an evil, evil grin, he involuntarily shuddered. This would not end well. For him, anyways. Jazz absolutely _adored_ Danielle.

"Okay! Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!"

As she flew off in search of accomplices, Danny put his arm around Ember.

"Damn, I'm still getting used to someone calling me "Daddy". It's just too surreal," he said. Ember nodded. "Not to mention, all this stuff that happened this week, all my thoughts are so convoluted it's painful," he continued. Ember looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Spell 'convoluted'," she said, and Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh…I'm pretty sure there's a "D" in there somewhere," he said sheepishly. Ember rolled her eyes. "Yeah, "D" as in your English grade," she said with a smirk.

"Hey! That's a low blow!" Danny complained. Ember whistled innocently. Suddenly, a scream of rage was heard throughout the house.

"DANIEL JAMES FENTON, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

"And I believe that's my cue," Danny said. He turned tail and ran. He was soon joined by Dani, Vlad, and Jack, all of whom were laughing maniacally and running for their half-lives.

"What did you DO?!" demanded Danny. Vlad couldn't answer, he was laughing so hard. Jack took over. "We'll tell you later. Less talking, more escaping!"

They took cover in the training room and tried to catch their breath.

"What…happened?" Danny panted. He was bent over double, wheezing, as was Danielle. Vlad leaned against the wall while Jack was sprawled on the floor.

"Someone may or may not have…altered…the contents of Jasmine's shampoo," Vlad choked out. Danny's eyes went wide.

"You didn't…" Vlad nodded. "We did, and it was oh, so worth it!" he said, his face regaining a wide grin.

"You realize she'll kill us, right?" he asked. His father smirked. "Not if she doesn't find us," he said, and Danny had to concede that point. Jazz's tracking skills were beyond awful. Her witty banter was better than her tracking skills.

"Fair point."

Meanwhile, an extremely angry green-haired halfa stormed through the house, itching to fry all of the pranksters and dish out some revenge.

Vlad, Danny, Dani, and Jack were noticeably absent from dinner that night.

 **And that's the end of that chapter! Stick around for more! R &R please, no flames, yadda yadda yadda.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again! It's time for a new chapter! This will be a longer chapter, so get ready!**

 **Special thanks to msclever9 for offering to draw the cover art for this story, I can't wait to see it!**

 **As usual, I own none of the characters. Butch Hartman does. Sadly, I am not him.**

 **Also, before anyone gets confused, from the schoolyard incident involving Michael forward, it is now summer vacation. I haven't had any reviews about it but I just realized how that could be confusing. Sorry bout that.**

 **Chapter 6**

It was early in the morning when 5 halfas, 2 ghosts, and a human gathered outside Danny's door. All of them had wide grins plastered on their faces and were holding air horns.

On Jazz's signal, the eight mischief-makers silently snuck into the room. They immediately headed toward the lump under the covers. Jazz held up her hand, counting down from five.

5…4…3…2….1….

The sound of eight air horns going off at once was nearly deafening.

However, it did not produce the intended result. The lump under the blankets didn't budge.

"Danny…?" Ember asked hesitantly, throwing back the covers.

There was just a bunch of pillows made to look like a person, with a note attached to them.

 _Nice Try._

"Where's Danny?" asked Maddie. "He never gets up early."

What they didn't know was a certain white-haired halfa had bribed his daughter into telling him the plan, and had her run interference while he pranked them back.

As he poured itching powder into Jack's clothes, he was startled when he heard a voice behind him.

"Having fun, little badger?"

He whirled around to find Vlad leaning in the doorway, holding a gym bag.

"Relax. Believe it or not, I'm here to help. Remember the weasel incident I mentioned? That was Jack's idea, but he let me take the fall for it. This is the perfect way to get my revenge," Vlad said with an evil smile.

"So, what do you have in mind?" Danny asked, now curious.

Vlad walked over and whispered in Danny's ear. Danny soon wore a grin identical to Vlad's.

"Who else knows?"

"Everyone except Jack. He's pretty easy to keep in the dark," Vlad said.

Danny's grin broadened. "Well, let's get started then," he said enthusiastically.

They met their accomplices in the main entryway. Jazz immediately walked over to Danny and punched him in the arm, hard. "THAT'S for turning my hair green!" she growled. Danny involuntarily flinched; his sister could be scary when she wanted to be.

"So everyone understands the plan?" asked Maddie. The rest nodded. "Alright then, Danny, let's put on that disguise."

Danny soon looked like he had gone ten rounds in the cage and lost.

The idea was to stage a fight between Vlad (disguised as another ghost) and Danny, and to make it look like Danny had been soundly beaten. Jack would then charge in and try to fight the ghost, only to be led into a ghost-proof container filled with weasels. Jack was horribly afraid of small animals, and weasels were number three on that list, behind rabbits and chipmunks.

Danny laid motionless on the ground in a pre-created crater, with extra ectoplasm scattered around him for effect, while a disguised Vlad started blasting random objects. Finally satisfied that he had Jack's attention, Vlad turned to the boy in the crater, fangs bared, but his eyes said it was just an act. Had to make it believable.

"SAY GOODBYE, HALF-BREED!" Vlad shouted, charging an energy blast.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON, YOU MONSTER!"

Vlad almost didn't react in time. He ducked just as Jack's massive fist replaced the area his head was just occupying. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Danny by the back of his tunic and took off toward the container, where the others lay in wait.

Jack was flying faster than he'd ever flown before. He was just about to grab hold of the ghost's ankle when Vlad (still in disguise) teleported in a burst of purple mist.

Jack, in his shock, forgot that he was still flying at roughly 300 miles per hour.

 _CLANG!_

There was now a Jack Fenton-shaped dent in the back of the metal container.

Jazz and Ember quickly shut the door, trapping Jack inside.

Meanwhile, inside the container, Jack lit a ball of ectoplasm in his hand so he could see.

He immediately wished he hadn't. He took one look at the weasels staring curiously up at him and one thought went through his mind.

 _Vlad Masters, you asshole._

On the outside of the container, Danny, Vlad, Danielle, Jazz, Maddie, Johnny, and Ember were rolling around on the ground, laughing so hard that they felt tears start to form as they listened to Jack's surprisingly girlish screams.

"Should we let him out?" Danny panted, trying and failing to regain his breath.

"Let me think…" Vlad put on a thoughtful expression. "…Nah."

It was over thirty minutes later when they finally let Jack out.

He immediately stumbled over to Vlad and apologized to him for letting him take the blame for a prank gone wrong. Vlad accepted his apology and Jack immediately fainted.

Hours later, Danny was sitting on the couch with Ember, watching a movie. Finally they could take no more and simultaneously announced, "I'm bored."

Danny looked at his girlfriend. "Want to go walk around town?" he asked, and Ember nodded.

Danny held out a bracelet for her. She took it and put it on, then he led her over to a mirror. "Tap the bracelet," he said, and she did. Instantly, her blue faming hair turned auburn and her pale skin gained color.

Soon, she looked like an ordinary human girl. She gaped at her reflection before tackling Danny into a hug. "Thank you! Now you can hang out in your human form!" she squealed. Danny just smiled and they teleported into an alleyway, before making their way to the street and walking down the sidewalk.

A few hours later, disaster struck.

Danny and Ember had just left the Apple Store and were crossing the street. Danny, using the money Vlad gave him for spending, had bought Ember an iPod Touch, which she was now jamming out to through her new Beats headphones. She had the volume turned up and her eyes closed, head bobbing with whatever song she was listening to.

Which means she never saw or heard the truck.

Danny almost didn't either, but not until it was too late. There was no time to transform or go intangible, those two things required focus. So he did the one thing he could do.

He shoved Ember out of the way just as the truck plowed into him.

He was launched over 50 feet, and came down hard in the street. He landed on his shoulder, and there was a nasty crack on impact.

Ember was at his side in a heartbeat. She couldn't believe it, he had just pretty much saved her life, had she been living. She knelt in the street with Danny's head in her lap, weeping. There was green-flecked blood everywhere. The impact from the truck had torn open his chest, and blood flowed freely from the huge gash. His right shoulder was broken, as were his left leg and most of his ribs.

By sheer luck, or possibly fate, an off-duty ambulance had just rounded the corner when the truck hit Danny. The EMTs were at his side in an instant, putting on a neck brace and slowly lifting him onto a backboard, which was then placed on a gurney and brought into the ambulance. Ember held his hand all the way to the hospital, as one of the EMTs put an I.V. into Danny's arm while another called his parents to inform them of what happened.

 **Masters' Mansion, five minutes prior to the call from EMT**

Maddie and Jack were training when a visible shudder ran down their spines. They didn't know what, but something was clearly wrong. "Maddie, did you feel that? Felt like I just walked through a cold spot," Jack said. Maddie nodded. "I felt it too. Maybe the A/C's on the fritz again?" she suggested. Jack shrugged.

Suddenly, Maddie's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Is this Mrs. Fenton, mother of Daniel James Fenton?" asked the voice on the other side. "Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?" "I'm Chase Williams with Madison, Wisconsin EMT. I…I'm afraid there's been an accident."

Maddie's jaw dropped and she put the phone on speaker. "What. Happened?" she demanded.

Maddie and Jack's eyes filled with tears as the EMT described what happened.

"We'll be right there," Maddie said, barely restraining a sob.

Vlad, Jazz, Johnny, Sam, and Danielle walked in, with the halfas in human form, and immediately noticed the Fenton parents openly crying. "What happened?!" yelled Vlad. As Maddie and Jack choked out what they heard from the EMT, Vlad shifted into ghost form and put Sam on his back.

They broke the sound barrier in the process of flying to the hospital.

After Vlad found a suitable place to transform, they walked inside to be greeted by a hysterical Ember. She had long since abandoned the disguise bracelet and was sitting in the waiting area in front of a hallway labeled "Emergency Surgery".

She was immediately wrapped in a hug by Jack and Maddie. Soon a tired-looking doctor came around the corner. "Are you the Fentons?" he asked. Maddie shot over to him. "How is he? How's my baby?!" Her voice was steadily rising. The doctor looked grim. "He took some heavy damage. So far, we've managed to stop the bleeding and get the broken limbs into casts, but he's still unresponsive. I fear if he doesn't regain consciousness within 48 hours, he could slip into a coma."

Maddie promptly fainted on the spot. Danielle asked, "Can we see him?" The doctor nodded and led them to a room marked, "Recovery Room 3".

What they saw, they were not prepared for.

Danny was laying on the bed, but there were so many machines and wires hooked up to him, it was like looking at something straight from a sci-fi movie. There was a nasty cut across his face, from above his right eyebrow to his left jaw line, going across his right eye and nose. The doctors, fortunately, were able to save his eye.

All of the girls' breath hitched at the sight. Ember and Jazz stared in shock and Danielle promptly screamed "DADDY!" and ran over to his side, openly crying.

Needless to say, none of them left the hospital that night.

Ember and Danielle were awoken by a sound that nobody should ever hear.

The sound of a heart rate monitor. Flat-lining.

"NURSE!" They screamed into the hallway, and instantly there was a team of doctors and nurses in the room with a defibrillator. They put the electrodes on Danny's chest as the machine whirred to life.

"Charging…two hundred…CLEAR!"

Danny's body jolted with the shock, but the flat line remained.

"No good! Give me five hundred…CLEAR!"

Another jolt. The flat line never changed.

"Last time! Give me a thousand! Ready…CLEAR!"

Danny's body jolted a third time. To everyone's shock and horror, there was no change.

"That's it…time of death, 7:26 A.M….I'm sorry," said the doctor, directing the last part at the Fentons as the sheets were pulled over Danny's head and the doctors and nurses exited the room, taking the defibrillator with them.

Ember and Danielle hugged each other, tears glistening in their eyes. Jack and Maddie stared in shock, and Jazz completely broke down, with Johnny trying his best to comfort her. Vlad was openly crying, his head against the wall.

Suddenly, Jack walked over to the bed and threw back the sheet. He shifted into ghost form and grabbed Danny's wrist.

Jack then poured all of his power into his electric abilities and released them.

There was a bright flash of light, forcing everyone to cover their eyes.

When the light died down, they were greeted with the sight of Jack, now in his human form. There was no change with Danny.

Except now, the monitor registered a steady heartbeat.

Every family member present breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor came around the corner.

"What the…? But it wasn't…How did…well, it seems there was a problem with the machine," the doctor stammered. He abruptly left the room. Danny's family had to go back to Amity Park via Vlad's portal, but they promised to visit whenever he woke up. Ember and Danielle stayed at the hospital with Danny, and Vlad notified Ellen of what happened. Instantly, she teleported to the hospital.

"Ember! Thank God you're okay! I was so worried! …And who's this?" she said, directing the last part at Danielle, who had grabbed hold of Ember's leg like a lifeline and was trying to hide. Ember was trying to think of something to say when Vlad took over. "Before you freak out, dear, allow me to explain what's happened these past few days," he said, and he filled her in on everything up to the point of telling her that Danielle is technically Ember and Danny's daughter.

Ellen marched over to Ember and looked her dead in the eye. "Young lady, don't you DARE think for ONE MINUTE that you will not let me meet my granddaughter!" she said with mock anger. Ember nearly fell over; this certainly wasn't the reaction she expected, but she accepted it just the same.

Ellen gave Ember permission to stay with Danny that night, and went back to the mansion with Vlad. Ember promptly sat down in a chair and Danielle floated into her lap, wrapping herself in Ember's flaming hair. They soon fell into a restless sleep.

Ember awoke the next morning to see her boyfriend stirring on the bed. She immediately grabbed his hand, and to her relief, he squeezed it, before his eyelids fluttered open.

"Wha…?" he asked, before he noticed Ember sitting in the chair next to him.

He looked at her with a confused expression.

Ember was smiling at her boyfriend when suddenly, she heard the words she'd been dreading.

"Who are you?"

Ember was shocked. He must have gotten amnesia from the accident. She was starting to panic when she noticed Danny laughing.

"Oh, God! You should've seen your face! It was priceless!" he laughed. Ember was furious. She was about to storm out of the hospital and never return when Danny became serious. "Ember, are you ok? If I hadn't pushed you out of the way, you would've been hit instead of me. So, are you alright?" he asked, his voice full of genuine concern. Upon hearing those words, Ember's rage melted, and she nodded, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Danny's expression softened. "Good," he said. He looked away. "I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to you."

The urge for Ember to go "d'awww" was almost overwhelming. Almost.

She planted a kiss on his lips. "Well, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me, babypop."

He smiled and returned the kiss. "You're welcome, Emy."

Danielle floated up and settled on his lap. Danny ruffled her hair and she giggled. Ember raised an eyebrow and did the same thing. She was met with a set of angry green eyes and a grumble of "Only Daddy can do that." Ember held up her hands in an "I'm innocent" gesture and took a step back.

The doctor walked around the corner carrying a clipboard. "Well, Mr. Fenton, you gave us quite the scare. Your injuries include a concussion, a broken shoulder, a broken leg, that large gash in your chest, which will scar by the way, that cut on your face, which will scar as well, and no less than five broken ribs. It pains me to say it, but you're lucky to be alive," he said.

 _Ain't that the truth,_ everyone thought. The doctor continued. "You should be released within a few days, but you still need to take it easy for a few weeks. That means no working out, no contact sports, nothing too physical. Understand?"

Danny nodded. He wasn't stupid. Clueless, maybe. But not stupid.

Danny's family came to visit that afternoon, along with Johnny, Sam, Tucker, Vlad, and Ellen. They were relieved to see him sitting up in bed, absentmindedly playing with Danielle's hair as they watched TV. He was the only one who could get away with it. Everyone else ended up on the receiving end of an ecto-blast.

"Danny-boy, I can understand the want and need for some father/daughter bonding time, but you could've picked a better place for it," Jack joked, and everyone, including Danny, laughed. Danny noticed Vlad and Ellen holding hands, and when Ellen wasn't looking, he shot Vlad a thumb's up. Vlad just grinned and returned the gesture.

A few days later, Danny was discharged. His ribs were on the mend, and his arm was out of the sling, although he still had to be careful. His leg, however, was still in the cast. As he was wheeled out of the hospital, Danielle settled onto his lap. She tended to do that whenever she got bored. With a wicked grin, he slowly brought his hands up and tickled the girl in the sides, causing her to giggle and squirm out of his grip, then look back at him with that signature grin. Danny ruffled her hair and she giggled again. She floated off of him so he could move from the wheelchair to the car, then settled back in his lap. It was almost as if she was determined to never let go of him again, and for good reason.

"Hey, Dani, how about once I get better I take you shopping? I'll buy you a present," Danny said, and Danielle's face instantly lit up like a Christmas tree. "YAY! Thank you Daddy!" she squealed. Vlad, who was driving, smiled. He made a mental note to ask Ember something when they got home.

When they arrived at the mansion, Vlad explained that everyone was in Amity Park, and he could go through the ghost portal to get there. Danielle carried him; even though she was only six, she had inherited some of her grandfather's monstrous strength, so she could carry Danny with ease.

Ember was about to follow them when Vlad stopped her. In a hushed voice, he told her his plan and waited for her reply. It was an enthusiastic yes.

"When?" she asked, visibly vibrating with joy.

"I was thinking we could go for dinner, all of us. Probably then," Vlad said, smiling.

Ember nodded. "So, this weekend?" she asked, and Vlad agreed. Ember smiled.

She waved goodbye and flew through the portal.

A week later, Danny was finally well enough to move around on his own. His healing factor had taken care of most of the damage, but not all of it, due to him being half-human. However, his leg was out of the cast, and his shoulder and ribs were fully healed. The scars on his chest and face would remain forever, but Ember didn't seem to mind. If anything, she liked him better this way.

To celebrate, Vlad invited them all to dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant. Vlad sat at the head of the long table, with Ellen next to him on the left and Danny on the right. Ember sat next to her boyfriend. Dinner was great, the lasagna that Danny ordered was nothing less than perfection. Suddenly, Vlad stood up to make a toast.

"To Danny's recent return to health!" he exclaimed, holding his glass of wine high.

"Hear, hear!" was the response.

"I have one more announcement to make, if everyone would please settle down," continued Vlad, and Ember and Danny smiled. They knew what was coming.

Vlad turned to Ellen. "Dear, would you please stand over here?" he asked, and Ellen nodded before moving to stand next to him, a confused expression on her face.

Vlad took a deep breath before looking her in the eye.

"Ellen, ever since I first met you, I wanted to get to know you better. Now that I have, I realized that I love you more than anything in the world." Ellen smiled at this, but was still slightly confused. Honestly, she could be as clueless as Danny sometimes.

Suddenly, Vlad got down on one knee and pulled a velvet box from his pocket.

"Ellen McLain, will you make me the happiest man that's half-alive, and become my wife?" Vlad asked as he opened the box, revealing a beautiful ring that had twelve tiny diamonds surrounding a large sapphire.

Ellen's hand flew to her mouth and tears started pouring from her eyes as she nodded vigorously. "Yes! Of course!" she squealed, and threw herself into Vlad's arms. Vlad kissed her and slipped the ring onto her finger as the rest of the restaurant applauded the two. Suddenly, two cooks brought out a large chocolate cake and set it at the center of the table.

The manager poured a glass of wine and raised it. "To the newlyweds!" he shouted, and the entire restaurant drank a toast to Vlad and Ellen.

Ellen turned to Maddie. The two had become very close, ever since Maddie had met her.

"Maddie, would you be my maid of honor?" Maddie squealed in delight and jumped up and down.

Likewise, Vlad turned to Jack. "Jack, would you be my best man?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Jack wrapped him in a bear hug and Vlad felt his spine pop in three places.

"Of course I will, Vladdie!" he exclaimed.

Vlad then turned to Danny and Johnny. "Would you guys be the groomsmen?" he asked. Danny and Johnny both nodded.

Ellen turned to Ember and Jazz. "Would you two be my bridesmaids?" she asked, and both girls squealed, nodding.

Ember caught Danny's eye and slipped her hand into his.

They smiled and watched the newlyweds feed each other a slice of cake.

Three days later, Danny was awoken by a sudden weight on his chest. He opened his eyes to see a bright-eyed Danielle sitting on his chest, a wide smile on her face.

"Happy birthday, Daddy!" she squealed, wrapping him in a hug. Danny laughed and ruffled her hair. He had completely forgotten about his 16th birthday.

He got up, showered, and changed before going downstairs, Danielle floating up and settling on his shoulders. He walked into the kitchen to see a huge pile of presents and his smiling family and friends. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they shouted as Ember walked over to him and gave him a kiss. He sat down at the long table and Danielle settled into his lap. He looked at the mountain of gifts and immediately started unwrapping.

There was a new set of gloves that provided better use of his ice powers from Jazz, a new belt from Danielle, a new sword scabbard from Maddie, a new sword from Jack (this took some convincing of Maddie), a new iPod from Ember and Ellen, and a leather jacket with a cool-looking DP logo from Johnny. When asked about the symbol, Johnny explained that he combined the initials from both his forms into one: Danny Phantom. Danny immediately loved the new name and gave Johnny a bro-hug. Vlad was last. He led Danny over to a large wooden door that Danny had never gone through.

Danny opened the door and turned on the light, and his jaw dropped. There had to have been at least two hundred cars. The garage was the size of a football field. Vlad walked up behind him. "Pick your poison," he said with a smile.

After about twenty minutes of deciding, Danny had finally narrowed his choices down to three.

As he stood staring at the three cars, he couldn't decide. All of them were absolutely gorgeous.

On the left stood a 1967 Shelby GT500 fastback (Google "Eleanor 67 mustang"), a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, and a Lamborghini Reventon.

Vlad decided to choose for him. "Just take all three, I have enough as it is," he said with a dismissive wave. Danny looked at his mom and to his utter shock she smiled, shrugged, and nodded.

Danny immediately jumped behind the wheel of the Challenger while Ember hopped into the passenger seat. Lucky for him, in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the legal driving age is 15 instead of 16 (AN: it probably isn't, but for the sake of the story just roll with it), so Danny had his license for a while.

He put the car in gear and peeled out of the garage, Ember squealing like a schoolgirl as she was pushed into the seat by the massive torque from the 700 horsepower behemoth. With a powerslide* out of the driveway, Danny floored it down the straightaway. The car's acceleration was phenomenal. If Danny didn't know better, he would try to achieve warp speed. Luckily for him and Ember, he DID know better.

Didn't stop him from trying, though.

After a few minutes of fun, he pulled up to a stoplight. Suddenly, a black 1970 Plymouth Barracuda pulled up next to him. The guy in the passenger seat rolled down the window, the sunlight gleaming off his bald head. The girl in the driver's seat looked admiringly at the car and nodded her approval.

"Nice car, kid. Wanna race?" the guy shouted over the rumbling of the engines.

"What're the stakes?" Danny shouted back, but the man shook his head.

"No stakes, just for fun. Next quarter mile. You in?"

Danny looked at Ember, who slowly turned her head toward him with a smirk.

"Smoke 'em."

Danny revved his engine in response, the 707 horses under his right foot itching to be let loose.

The light turned green, and both cars were gone in a cloud of tire smoke.

The race was close. One second Danny would be in the lead, the next the other guy was.

They crossed the finish line at the exact same time.

They pulled over and got out. The man introduced himself as Dom, and the woman was his girlfriend, Letty.

"Aside from my friend's Supra, that was the closest race I've ever been in," Dom said with a sigh.

He gave Danny an address and a phone number if he ever wanted to race again, before hopping in the 'Cuda and driving off with Letty, saying something about "Race Wars".

Danny shrugged and drove him and Ember home.

As he pulled into the garage, Vlad was standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Did you win?" he asked. Danny was shocked and asked how he knew.

"Are you kidding? You can hear the exhaust for miles."

Danny sighed. "It was a tie. That Barracuda was freakin' fast."

Vlad smirked again. "I know that car. I happen to be friends with its owner. It's one of the fastest cars in the country."

Danny was about to reply when he felt a familiar weight on his shoulders. He looked up to see his daughter grinning down at him. He reached up and tickled her sides, causing her to squirm and giggle as she tried to escape the onslaught.

"Let's get going, Dani," he said, using her pet name that only he could use.

She raised an eyebrow. "Where?" she asked curiously.

Danny smiled. "The mall, silly! I told you I'd take you when I got better, remember?"

Dani's grin almost split her face. She squealed and hugged her father, then ran to the Lamborghini, and after solving the brief mystery of how Lambo doors work, not to mention a good five minutes of her just opening and closing the door, she hopped in the passenger seat.

Vlad and Danny looked at each other. "She's got good taste," Vlad commented, and Danny nodded.

He walked over to the driver's side and slid into the seat, pushing the start button as he did so. The engine came to life with a thunderous roar. Deciding to be at least somewhat careful, Danny pulled slowly out of the garage, waiting until he got to a straightaway before punching the gas pedal to the floor. The car surged forward so fast, Danny almost didn't shift gears in time. He kept it at a steady 95 until they reached the mall.

Immediately after parking, people started to swarm the car. Danny revved the engine and they backed off quick.

After letting Danielle out, he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, her favorite place to be. He picked her up because if he didn't, she would float up there, and that would cause some people to ask questions he would rather not answer.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" she asked. He smiled. "That would be telling," he said, and she pouted. She hated being kept in the dark.

Danny spent an hour just wandering around the mall, causing Danielle's curiosity to ever increase. When he finally felt she would explode if she didn't find out where they were going, he stopped in front of the pet shop.

Dani's eyes were as wide as plates. She jumped down and hugged Danny before running inside, Danny following soon after. Good thing he talked about this with Vlad first, and he had enthusiastically agreed, although he was adamant on one thing. No cats.

Eventually, the two halfas exited the pet shop with a black Labrador puppy in Dani's arms. Danny laughed at the look of pure joy on her face. The pup yapped playfully.

"What are you gonna name him?" Danny asked. Danielle's response was immediate.

"Shadow."

Danny nodded. A fitting name. He looked down at the pup and was amused to see it had fallen asleep.

Dani didn't stop smiling the whole way home.

That night, Ember gave him her second birthday present. Something best unwrapped behind closed (and locked) doors.

The next day, Danny decided to spend some time in Amity Park. The rest of his family, including Sam and Johnny, had already left earlier that day. He called Johnny and Jack to help him get the cars home. Jack took the Challenger while Johnny took the Mustang, leaving Danny, Danielle, and Shadow in the Lambo.

Good thing Shadow was housebroken.

Upon arriving in Amity Park, people stared at the three cars as they made their way down the street in single file and pulled into the Fentons' driveway.

Danny was getting the mail when he came across an invitation. It was an invitation to a school's-out party hosted by Paulina Sanchez, the self-proclaimed "Queen of Casper High", and so shallow you could stand in a puddle of her and not get wet.

Danny showed Ember the invite, and she turned it over, reading the handwritten note on the back.

 _Fenton,_

 _The only reason I'm inviting you is because wherever you go, that hot ghost kid seems to follow. I want to meet him, since he obviously loves me, so what better way than to invite you to my party?_

 _Don't screw this up,_

 _Paulina_

A year earlier, he would've been ecstatic to go to Paulina's party. Now, though, he breathed a sigh of annoyance. "I have no choice. If I don't go, she'll be mad, and the last time she was mad, someone ended up in the hospital," he said dejectedly.

Ember smiled and whispered in his ear. Danny's face split into one of his signature grins. "Ember, have I ever told you how awesome you are?" he asked after kissing her on the cheek. "You could mention it more," she retorted but still smiled.

A few hours later, they were ready for the party. It was at the beach, so Danny wore his swim trunks and a tank top, while Ember wore a blue two-piece bikini and a white sundress. Danielle would be staying home, playing pranks on her Aunt Jazz and Grandma with the help of her ever-mischievous Grandpa.

Danny opened the passenger door of the Lamborghini for Ember, who said sarcastically, "Why, thank you, sir." He responded in kind, "Not problem at all, madam," with a mock salute, before sliding across the hood and plopping down into the driver's seat.

Danny and Ember arrived at the beach parking lot, where everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the car. No one in Amity Park knew that Danny had a Lambo, and as far as they knew, no one had one.

So when Danny shifted into his ghost form and phased him and Ember out of the car, invisibly, and made a duplicate who switched to human form, he got a front-row seat to their reactions.

They were priceless. Paulina's jaw dropped, as did the two jocks'. Danny recognized the one on the left as the blond kid that bullied Michael, but he didn't know his name. The one on the right he recognized as Kwan. He and Kwan were on pretty good terms, despite who Kwan hung out with.

The blond bully made his way over to Danny's duplicate while Danny and Ember floated above them, invisible.

"Nice car, Fenturd! I think I'll take it for a spin!" the jock said, before trying to swipe the keys.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Danny said, becoming visible. He was glad that he had taken the time to put on a swimsuit in his ghost form. Those Assassin robes got really itchy when they got wet.

The bully quickly backed off, remembering vividly the times he got his ass handed to him by this ghost.

Paulina walked over to him, swaying her hips seductively. "Well, hello ghost boy," she said in heavily accented English. She was wearing a very revealing bikini. "Why don't we go find somewhere to hang out?"

Danny smiled. "Sorry, but I'm here with my girlfriend," he said as Ember became visible, waving sarcastically at her. Paulina's jaw dropped. _But…but he loves ME!_ she thought. Danny smiled and wrapped his arm around Ember's waist. "Come on, babe, let's go swimming," he said. She smiled and nodded, whispering in his ear. She wanted to make Paulina as jealous as possible.

Danny smiled at her plan before slowly taking off his shirt.

Every girl within ten feet of him, Ember included, started drooling. He had perfect eight-pack abs and a chest that looked like it was chiseled from marble. They thought the long scar running from his left shoulder to his right hip was the icing on the cake. Guys everywhere had to keep their girlfriends from jumping him where he stood.

Danny took Ember's hand and flew them out over the ocean. The sun was setting, and it made the entire scenery look beautiful. He pulled Ember in for a kiss, which she returned, smiling when she heard Paulina's scream of rage.

When they broke away, Danny let himself fall the twenty feet to the water. He immediately flew out again. "COLD!" he shouted, causing Ember to laugh. He fake pouted before flying over to a hot tub that had been set up. He sighed as he sat in the warm water. Ember slid in next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and closed his eyes.

"HEY, BITCH!"

"Here we go…" he muttered as he opened one eye and saw a very pissed-off Paulina storming toward them. He looked at Ember. "Me or you?" he asked.

"I'll take care of it." She opened her eyes as Paulina marched up to the hot tub.

"Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically.

"You can start by getting away from my ghost boy!" Paulina screeched. Danny and Ember burst out laughing. "Okay, she-male, listen up," Danny said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "I. Do. Not. Love. You. I don't even remotely like you. I love my amazing girlfriend, because she's a thousand times better than a shallow whore like yourself."

"I. AM. NOT. A. WHORE!" Paulina screamed. Danny duplicated and sent his clone over to the Lambo, where he retrieved a flash drive that was black with pink accents. Paulina paled when she saw it.

"How did you…" she stammered. Danny raised his eyebrow. "Let's just say I have friends in high places. Now, if you don't want whatever is on this drive to become public, you will stop harassing me and my girlfriend. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go check on our daughter," he said, drawing out the last word. Everyone present gasped. Paulina looked like she would break down where she stood. Danny flew over to Paulina's father and handed him the flash drive. "There's some stuff on there you might want to talk to your daughter about," he said, and Mr. Sanchez smiled and nodded. He liked this kid, putting his stuck-up daughter in her place.

Danny made his human duplicate drive the Lambo home while he and Ember followed in the air.

When they got home, Danielle hugged her parents before releasing a wide yawn. Smiling, Danny picked her up and took her to her room, where she said goodnight, kissing him on the cheek before getting in bed.

Ember and Danny fell asleep in each others' arms and slept peacefully for the first time in days.

 ***A powerslide is basically drifting without using the brake.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello once again! Here's another chapter for all you lovely people!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Only the ghost forms, and Ember's mom, and Shadow.**

 **Chapter 7**

Danny awoke in the middle of the night, hearing ragged coughing coming from Danielle's room. He slid out of bed, careful not to wake Ember, and quietly opened her door.

He saw her sitting up in bed, hunched over, and hacking up a lung. He quickly made his way over to her. "Hey, baby girl, you ok?" he asked softly, rubbing her back. She just shook her head, pointing to her throat. "Can't talk, huh? Come on, let's get you some water." He poured her a glass and handed it to her. It was gone in three seconds. "Can you talk now?" he asked, but Danielle shook her head before grabbing a notepad and pencil and started writing.

 _Can't talk. Throat hurts a lot. Hurts to breathe. Been coughing up green stuff for a few minutes before you came in._

Danny paled. There was only one disease that he knew of that made you cough up ectoplasm.

"Dani, get your coat. We're going to the doctor."

Dani looked at him, confused, but did as he asked. Meanwhile, Danny went back to the bedroom to tell Ember what happened.

"Ember…Ember, wake up," Danny said softly.

"Mmmm…what is it?" asked Ember drowsily, annoyed at being awoken.

"I think Danielle's caught the ecto-flu. We're going to see Frostbite."

Ember sat bolt upright. "Ecto-flu? I'm coming with you."

Danny knew better than to argue, so after leaving a note for his parents in case they were gone until morning, they teleported to the Far Frozen.

They flew at near-Mach speed to Frostbite's hut. Danny pounded on the door. "Frostbite! It's me, Danny! It's an emergency!" he shouted.

Within seconds, the door was flung wide open, and a concerned Frostbite was standing in the doorframe. He took one look at Danny's worried expression and brought them inside.

Danny brought Danielle to the medical facility (he was sent here numerous times during his cryokinesis training) and laid her on the table.

"What's been happening?" asked Frostbite as he put on a stethoscope. Danny explained every symptom that Dani told him about, including the coughing-up-ectoplasm, and Frostbite furrowed his brow. "That sounds like ecto-flu. There is a cure, and it is instantaneous in its effect, but it is a complicated formula and not easily made," he said grimly.

"Can you make it?" Ember pleaded, concerned for her daughter.

Frostbite grinned. "I invented it."

He walked over to a medicine cabinet and pulled out a small blue bottle. He gently opened Dani's mouth and poured a crystal-clear liquid down her throat.

Immediately, Danielle showed visible signs of improvement.

Danny and Ember breathed audible sighs of relief. "Thanks, Frostbite. I owe you one, big time," Danny said as he gathered his daughter in his arms. Frostbite shook his head. "There is no need, young one. You did what had to be done with the resources at your disposal. Feel free to come back anytime, all of you. The realm of the Far Frozen is now open to you," he said with a smile. Danny nodded and hugged Frostbite, as did Ember. After saying goodbye, they teleported back to the Fenton house.

Danny looked at the clock. 10:00 on the dot. Man, time really did pass differently in the Ghost Zone.

 _ **BOOM.**_

The entire house shook with the force of the explosion. Danny and Ember stumbled a bit. There were two thumps and two yelps, and Jazz and Johnny stuck their heads through the ceiling.

"Man, that's one hell of a wake up call!" Johnny exclaimed.

They floated through the ceiling, righting themselves to land gracefully on the floor.

Suddenly, a soot-covered Jack Fenton came through the door to the lab.

"Sorry about that! We're trying to invent new tools that could help us if we ever have to fight ghosts!" he boomed. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Come on, Dad. It's not like a ghost is gonna-" Jazz was cut off as the Fentons' ghost senses went off. A blue man in overalls and a blue beanie phased through the floor.

"BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! MASTER OF ALL THINGS CARBOARD AND SQUARE!" he shouted. Everyone groaned. "It's like there's another Dad…he's so loud!" said Danny. Suddenly, the Box Ghost raised his hands, and with a mighty "BEWARE!" sent cereal boxes flying at the teens from the cabinets.

"Johnny, Ember! You know this guy?" Danny called as he dodged some Fruit Loops.

Ember shook her head, but Johnny answered. "He calls himself the Box Ghost. He has power over anything that's classified as a box. The boxes themselves aren't usually a threat, but their contents can be. I remember I fought him once and was nearly crushed by a refrigerator."

Suddenly, Danny had to jump out of the way. An entire box of knives had just launched itself at him, its contents threatening to impale him. "I think I see your point," he punned as he stared at the quivering knives that had sunk into the wall.

Danny turned and launched himself at the Box Ghost, not seeing Johnny do the same on the other side. The Box Ghost turned intangible at the last second, causing Danny and Johnny to crash into each other and land in a heap on the floor. Maddie ran up the stairs, off the wall, and threw a flying side kick. She missed and hit Jazz, sending her through the living room wall.

Dani hid behind her mother, crying. She was terrified of this new, unknown threat.

A large box knocked Jack off his feet, and something silver and cylindrical fell out of his pocket. It looked like a soup thermos. Quickly and quietly, he unscrewed the lid and pointed it at the Box Ghost. He prayed this time it would work.

"EAT FENTON THERMOS, GHOST!" he bellowed. The thermos shot out a blue light that engulfed the Box Ghost and sucked him inside, screaming.

Jack quickly replaced the lid and slid down the wall, thoroughly exhausted.

Danny, Johnny, Jazz, and Maddie all sat up, groaning and holding their heads.

Danny was the first to stand, but almost fell over again due to Danielle attaching herself to his chest at high speed. He held her until she calmed down before asking, "Okaaaay…what was that?"

"A ghost, obviously, or the new Fenton Thermos wouldn't have worked," Jack pointed out. "What exactly does that thermos do?" asked Jazz. Jack beamed. "It's guaranteed to capture any and all ghosts and cram them into a tiny space!" he said proudly. Everyone in the room took a step back, out of firing range.

Fortunately, Jack seemed to realize the problem and hastily set the thermos on the counter.

"So, one thing's for sure: we need more training," said Johnny, but Danny shook his head. "Training more won't do any good. That ghost was able to take on all of us at once. If anything, we need to work on our teamwork," he said. Suddenly, a black combat boot nailed him in the head, and he went down like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Will everyone just SHUT UP AND LET ME SLEEP?!" Sam roared from her room. Everyone in the living room flinched. Jazz could be scary, but Sam could be downright terrifying.

Everyone instantly shut up until they heard Sam's door close. Jazz turned to her mom and dad. "Speaking of training, you two haven't had practice with your elemental powers yet," she said.

"Indeed, Jasmine," a new voice said.

The Fentons, plus Johnny and Ember, whirled around and were met with…

"Clockwork?" Danny asked groggily as he slowly came to. A steel-toe boot to the head hurts. "What are you doing here?"

Clockwork smiled. "My…employers…are called the Observants. They…well, they observe the current time stream. If something appears that could threaten the timeline, they send me to remove it. Sometimes, though, I intentionally make myself scarce just to anger them," he said with a smirk. "But that's only part of the reason I'm here. Jackson, Madeline, I understand that you have not had practice with your elemental powers. So, I took it upon myself to locate you a tutor. His name is Vortex. He just so happens to have control over the weather, so naturally, he has both lightning and wind powers."

Jack and Maddie gaped. They had almost forgotten about their elemental training.

"When will we meet him?" asked Jack. Clockwork smiled again. He opened a portal behind him. "Right now," he said, and pushed the two into the portal. It closed behind them, and Clockwork sighed.

"Now that that's taken care of, I'll take my leave. Farewell."

He opened a portal and floated through it with a wave.

 **MEANWHILE**

Jack and Maddie landed in a very undignified manner on an island in the Ghost Zone.

"Ouch! Damn Clockwork…" Jack grumbled. "Now, where do we find Vortex?"

Maddie pointed to a nearby island where a storm was raging. "Oh," said Jack sheepishly.

As they flew towards the island, they felt the wind pick up, and rain soon coated their skin. Soon, they were struggling to fight their way through the storm.

"It's too dangerous to fly, Mads! We'll have to leg it from here!" Jack shouted as lightning flashed. They landed on the edge of the island and forced their way through the gale.

After what felt like hours, they finally reached the eye of the storm, which surrounded a gigantic obsidian castle.

Exhausted, Jack and Maddie flopped down on the ground in front of the castle. The last thing they saw was a green ghost with a ghostly tail that looked like a tornado, before darkness clouded their vision and they passed out.

Jack and Maddie awoke with a start. They were in a soft bed. They looked around their unfamiliar surroundings, trying to figure out just where they were, when a door opened to their left. The same ghost they saw before passing out floated through. Upon closer inspection, the green ghost wore a black shirt with a V and a lightning bolt on it. He smiled, showing sharp teeth.

"Ah, you're awake! Good! It's Jack Fenton, AKA Shade, correct? And your wife, Maddie, AKA Specter?" he asked. They nodded dumbly. Jack was focused on the swirling winds that made up the ghost's tail.

The ghost looked down, following Jack's gaze, then laughed and his tail formed a pair of legs that were dressed in black jeans.

"Sorry about that, the wind can be a bit mesmerizing. I'm Vortex. Clockwork visited not too long ago, said something about you two needing training with lightning and wind powers?" Vortex asked, and Jack nodded.

Vortex smiled. "Well, then. Let's get started."

And so they trained. Jack was soon able to control all forms of electricity, and Maddie could use the winds to increase her speed in the air as well as fire concussive blasts.

Jack's strongest attack was called Zeus' Fury, in which he knocked his opponent down with a charged punch before flying above them and calling down a series of lightning bolts. He would finish the attack by firing a large ball of electrically-charged ectoplasm at his opponent, causing a large explosion.

Maddie's strongest attack was called Cyclone. She flew into the air and used her power over air to create a large tornado charged with ectoplasm, which she would hurl at her opponent. It was useful, but the drawback was it caused massive amounts of property damage, something she actively tried to avoid.

They even had a combo attack, called Maelstrom. Jack and Maddie would stand back-to-back, and Maddie would create a hurricane while Jack charged it with lightning. The attack would then be condensed into a ball between them and hurled at the opponent, exploding on impact.

Once Vortex could teach them no more, Clockwork retrieved them and sent them back to Amity Park, where they practiced their elemental powers with the rest of the family on the outskirts of the city.

Eventually, they made a breakthrough. By combining all of their powers, they created a devastating attack.

They called it Apocalypse Storm. Danny would use Ice Age to freeze the surrounding area, while Maddie and Jack used Maelstrom (without condensing it into a ball), which Jazz amplified with her fire powers.

The result was an electrically-charged hurricane that rained fire on a frozen landscape. Nothing could escape once caught in the attack, and it dealt heavy damage, but didn't kill. The downside to the attack was it required time and energy to create, so it was only to be used as a last resort.

Danny, meanwhile, had practiced with his swords and hidden blades. He took it upon himself to teach Ember, Jazz, and Johnny how to fight with swords and knives, as Johnny taught Danny and the others how to effectively fight with a chain. Jazz had no weapon skills to teach, though she did teach the others how to put up a barrier strong enough to withstand a tank shell, and no one other than Danny could use Ember's guitar effectively.

Maddie helped the others improve their hand-to-hand skills and endurance, while Jack helped with basic strength training. By the end of their training period, Danny, Johnny, and Jack were all ripped. During the training, Danny had hit a huge growth spurt. He now stood about 6 foot 2. It took all of Ember's and Jazz's self-control to not grab their respective boyfriends and haul them off to their bedrooms and lock the doors.

Maddie, however, had no such limitations. One day, Jack accidentally walked through the kitchen, shirtless, and Maddie grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

When Danny heard the lock click, he quickly suggested they go out for lunch.

Danny, Ember, Danielle, Johnny, and Jazz all went to the Nasty Burger for lunch, where they met up with Tucker. They had a good time, until…

"Well, hello, Danny," said a voice with a Latino accent.

 _Aw, shit,_ Danny thought as he turned around in his seat to face Paulina. She took in his new appearance. She had to admit, he was pretty damn good-looking. With his prominent muscles and the scar on his face…wait. Didn't that super-hot ghost boy have a scar like that? She couldn't remember, so she shoved the thought aside.

Then she noticed Ember, and began to put two and two together (AN: surprisingly, she can actually do that).

She was Phantom's girlfriend (grrrr…), so why was she hanging around with Fenton, unless…

Oh.

 _Oh, shit._

Danny watched as Paulina's eyes widened. He had noticed her staring at his scar, and realized that she was beginning to put the pieces together.

In order to head her off, he smiled and said, "So you finally figured it out?"

"So it's true? You're the ghost boy?" Paulina whispered.

Danny closed his ice-blue eyes briefly, and when he opened them, Paulina was shocked to see them glowing neon green.

She had just opened her mouth when Ember cut her off. "One word to anyone without our say-so and no amount of plastic surgery will fix what I do to you." Paulina gulped and nodded. She then put on her most provocative look.

"So, Danny, how about you ditch the bitch and hang out with a real woman?" she asked, fluttering her eyelids. Danny put on a mock look of thought.

"You know what? You're right." Ember was shocked, and Paulina smiled victoriously.

Those emotions changed when Danny turned to Paulina. "Leave," he deadpanned.

Ember and Tucker nearly fell out of their chairs, they were laughing so hard, Sam choked on her drink, and Paulina's jaw hung to the floor. No one talked to her like that. NO ONE.

She had opened her mouth to yell at Danny when he pulled out a familiar pink-and-black flash drive. She immediately shut her mouth, and Danny put the drive away. "Good girl," he said sarcastically. "Now go suck off Kwan or Jeremy or whoever you're banging this week."

Paulina looked mortified. She instantly turned on her heel and ran out the door.

Danny looked at Tucker, who was typing away furiously on a laptop he pulled from God-knows-where. "Any chance you can send the stuff on that drive to the teachers next year?" he asked. Tucker chuckled and shook his head. "Dude, I'm six steps ahead of you. These just went viral. We have…125,244 likes on one, another fifteen thousand on page two, et cetera, et cetera. I could probably sell these and make millions, easy."

Danny smiled to himself. After all, Tucker did it, not him. All he knew was the results would be entertaining.

Boy, was that the understatement of the century.

Paulina Sanchez went from A-List queen to a mere peasant within 12 hours.

And yet, she still didn't understand why everyone kept looking at her weirdly.

Danny, Tucker, Ember, and Sam all roared with laughter when she finally figured it out. She screamed and raged at Danny and the others, but Danny tuned her out. He leaned over to Tucker and whispered in his ear.

"I'll give you five bucks if you send it to her mother."

Long story short, Tucker was now five bucks richer.

Two days later, Danny and Ember were hanging out at the mall. They had planned to meet Sam and Tucker for lunch. Sam and Tucker had the biggest crush on each other, but they were almost as clueless as Danny ("HEY!"). Danny and Ember could see it though, and kept trying to force them together. However, it was taking longer than anticipated. They just refused to admit their feelings toward each other.

Danny and Ember were discussing yet another plan to get the two together when Danny's ghost sense went off. They ducked into a deserted alley, where Danny transformed. He flew up above the mall, searching for the ghost, when a blue ball of ecto-energy blasted him in the chest, knocking him into a building. He burst out of the rubble, eyes glowing green in rage.

Before him was the most ridiculous-looking ghost he had ever seen (in his opinion).

He looked like a robot. His body was made of metal, and he had a green Mohawk that looked to be made of fire. He had metal wings coming out of his back with jet engines attached to them.

"Who the hell are you?" Danny asked, floating up to the ghost's level.

"I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!" the ghost roared. "And you, whelp, are interfering with my hunt!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about you go back home, you Iron Man reject!" Danny yelled while shooting an ecto-beam at Skulker's wing. Despite the weight of the metal, Skulker was surprisingly agile, able to dodge the beam and return one of his own. Danny dodged before flying in close and delivering an ectoplasm-charged punch to the robot's chest. Thanks to Danny's increased strength, the blow did far more damage to Skulker than the metal did to Danny. Skulker went flying into the side of a building.

Danny reached for the Fenton Thermos on his belt. Ever since the success of the weapon against the Box Ghost, Jack had insisted that everyone in the family carry one at all times, with the exception of Danielle.

Suddenly, Skulker shot out of the rubble and extended a blade from his arm.

Danny couldn't react fast enough as he felt the sharp blade cut him diagonally across his chest. Now he would have an X-shaped scar on his chest.

Danny stumbled back in midair before his eyes glowed brighter and he drew his swords, charging them with his ice energy. Skulker extended a second blade from his other arm and flew towards Danny, who adopted a defensive stance.

Suddenly, the sound of a power chord ripped through the air, and Skulker was sent flying from the massive pink fist that smashed into his chest.

Danny looked down and Ember with her guitar, floating up to him.

"Thanks, Emy. I owe you one."

Ember smirked. "Damn right you do."

Suddenly, she was hit by a glowing green net. She fell to the ground and screamed as electricity coursed through the net, electrocuting her.

Danny whipped around and saw Skulker lower his arm.

"A ghost with control over music? A fine prize indeed! And she's pretty…might make a good mistress," Skulker said as he flew down and reached for the net.

Then he looked down at the sword blade sticking out of his chest.

He smirked and turned to see what the whelp was trying to accomplish. What he saw wiped the smirk from his robotic face.

Danny was looking at him with ice-blue, rage-filled eyes. Ice coated his hands and elbows, turning them into razor-sharp blades. Danny flew forward so fast, Skulker had no chance of dodging.

Ember watched as Danny nearly carved Skulker to pieces. _I had no Idea he could do that,_ she thought. _He obviously used his ice powers that he learned in the Far Frozen, but where did he learn a technique using four blades?!_

Suddenly, Danny stopped slashing and the blades disappeared. "You know, Skulker, I just realized something. You're a ghost, right?"

Skulker nodded dumbly, and Danny gained an evil smile.

"That means you can't die, right?"

Another nod. Danny's smile grew.

"Which means I don't have to worry about breaking my oath when I do _this_."

Danny made a gigantic icicle. It was the original finishing blow of the move he just used, Icy End. With a yell, he thrust it into Skulker's chest.

Skulker's armor exploded. Danny walked over to where the head lay, and was surprised to see a tiny pair of legs sticking out the bottom of it.

He grabbed the legs and pulled. Then he nearly fell over, he was laughing so hard.

In his hand was Skulker's true form, a green blob with arms and legs. It spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Unhand me! I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest-"

He was cut off as Danny opened the Thermos and sucked him in. Putting the cap back on, he cut the net Ember was trapped in using his hidden blade and transformed. He felt his healing factor start repairing the damage to his chest, but he knew that it would scar. Suddenly, Ember attached herself to his chest, crying into his shoulder. He immediately put his arms around her and teleported them to his room. He held her, rubbing small circles on her back and stroking her flaming hair, until she finally calmed down. She looked up at him and kissed him gently on the lips. "Thanks for saving me, babypop," she said. "You're welcome, Emy."

Suddenly, Danielle burst through the door and pounced on her parents, knocking them to the floor. "MOMMY! DADDY!" she screamed happily as she hugged them both tightly. They laughed and hugged her back, and Danny ruffled Danielle's hair, causing her to giggle.

Danny stood up and put Danielle on his shoulders before walking down to the kitchen, crouching a bit so Danielle wouldn't hit her head on the doorframe.

He looked up at Danielle. "You hungry?" he asked, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, what do you want?" Dani thought for a minute before saying excitedly, "Macaroni and cheese!". Danny smiled; it was her favorite food. He set her down at the table and prepared the food. Dani squealed in joy when Danny set her bowl in front of her.

She was finished with her third bowl in less than 2 minutes. While Danny was serving her fourth helping, Dani noticed Danny's hidden blade. "Daddy, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the weapon. Danny followed her gaze and laughed. "That's my hidden blade. It's very helpful if I'm ambushed and don't have time to use my swords," he explained as he flicked his wrist, extending the blade. "When you get a bit older, I'll teach you how to use it."

Dani pouted. "But I wanna fight ghosts with you," she whined, giving Danny the puppy dog eyes. Danny smiled and ruffled her hair. "Not till you're older, kiddo."

She continued giving him the puppy dog eyes. Danny was unfazed. She could use it well; that much was given. But Danny had _invented_ the technique. He just smiled and shook his head.

Seeing she was getting nowhere, Dani resorted to plan B.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

…And so on. Finally, after ten minutes, Danny sighed.

"Tell you what. If it's okay with your mother, we'll start training you. But, you won't be able to fight ghosts unless me or your mother says you can. Does that work?"

Dani thought about it for a minute before nodding.

"Good. Let's get started then," Danny said, whisking away the untouched bowl of macaroni.

"Hey! I was eating that!" Danielle complained. "Okay, number one: no you weren't. Number two: it's a very bad idea to undertake intense training on a full stomach," Danny said. "Believe me, I've made that same mistake."

Dani pouted but said nothing. She didn't want to ruin her chances of finally being trained to fight ghosts.

And so, they trained. The entire Fenton family helped, including Sam. Sam's job was to make sure she knew how much power to use on either ghosts or humans. Ghosts were more durable than humans, so they could take harder hits. While Dani went all-out with the rest of the Fentons, Sam would jump in from time to time and force Dani to change the power of her attacks at random times, because you can't predict everything in a fight.

Johnny helped Dani use the environment to her advantage, using whatever happened to be laying around as a weapon. For example, a broom handle became a bo staff, a chain became nunchaku, a tree branch became a club, and so on.

Maddie helped her with hand-to-hand combat as well as endurance. She and Dani would spar until one of them (usually Dani) surrendered. Soon, Dani could go on for over 45 minutes without even breathing hard.

Jack helped with her basic strength training, not that she needed it. She had inherited Jack's monstrous strength, so his role was primarily to spar with her and Sam, helping her control her immense power.

Jazz tutored Dani with energy-based attacks and shields. Jazz would fire energy blasts of varying intensities while Dani held her strongest shield, until it broke. Then Jazz would put up a shield and Dani would throw ecto-blasts at it until she either broke through or used up her power.

Ember didn't really help too much, considering she used her guitar for combat, and was not as skilled in hand-to-hand combat or ecto-blasts. She mostly taught first-aid, should Dani get injured in a fight.

Finally, Danny trained her in weapon skills. First, she learned how to properly wield different types of swords, then use them in a fight. Then she moved on to dual-wielding, then knife fighting and properly wielding throwing knives. She had a particular talent for those weapons. Then Danny showed her an unconventional style known as "espada y daga*" which utilized a combination of sword and knife.

Finally, Danny taught her how to use a hidden blade. She used Jack's blueprint to design her own, and add a bit of personality to it. Her blade was about an inch shorter than Danny's, but it still packed quite a punch.

A month later, they could teach her no more. The Fentons stood off to the side as Danny approached his daughter.

"You've done well, Dani. I'm proud of you," Danny said with a smile. Dani smiled back. "But, it's time for your last test. A fight," he continued. Dani smirked, but it quickly fell when Danny drew his swords. "And your opponent will be me."

Dani gulped. She had never fought against her father before. She had no idea what to expect. She just steeled herself and flicked out her hidden blades.

Danny smiled and explained the rules. "The fight will go on as long as necessary. The winner will be declared by way of knockout, surrender, or a killing blow withheld. If blood is drawn, the fight will stop immediately while the wound is attended to. Any and all weapons and tactics are fair game," Danny explained, before adopting a leisurely stance, pointing one of his swords at Dani. "Ready? I'm not going to go easy on you."

Dani nodded. Danny nodded back. Dani blinked, and her father was gone. Instinctively, she rolled to her left as her father's blades whistled through the air where her head had been. All she knew about her father was that he preferred aerial combat and his favorite weapons were his swords. If she could keep him on the ground and separate him from his weapons…

As she was thinking, she accidentally let her guard down and saw Danny lunge toward her, swords positioned like a giant pair of scissors.

Devoid of any other options, Dani did the one thing she could do.

She screamed bloody murder.

…And released a Ghostly Wail.

Taken unawares, Danny was launched back by the force of the attack. As he stood, he couldn't help being shocked. For that power to manifest itself at that age…time to give Vlad a call.

He was caught unawares yet again as Danielle slammed an elbow into his stomach, sending him down on one knee. As she brought her blades down, he disappeared in a cloud of snow, reappearing in the air behind her. He took a deep breath, gathering the ecto-energy in his throat…

…and whistled.

It was like a miniature, condensed version of the Ghostly Wail. The attack hit Dani right as she was turning and sent her into a wall. Danny flew over to her as the resulting cloud of dust began to settle. He heard movement and swung his sword, stopping before he caused damage.

The dust settled, and Danny had his blade an inch from Dani's neck.

He smirked. "I win," he said. Dani smirked back. "Look down," she said.

Danny looked down to see Dani's hidden blade less than an inch from his chest, directly over his heart.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "A draw, huh? Closest I've ever come to being beaten in a straight-up fight," he said with amusement.

He sheathed his swords. "Congratulations, Dani. You have passed all your tests with flying colors. As such, I have a few gifts for you." He turned and picked up a wooden box. Dani opened it, and inside were a set of Assassin robes just like her father's, except hers were white while Danny's were black.

She put them on quickly, and Danny nodded. "They suit you," he remarked, and Dani grinned.

Danny then handed her another box. This one was longer and slimmer than the other one. Dani opened it and found two swords identical to her father's, albeit shorter so they were balanced for her. She squealed in delight and quickly strapped them to her belt.

Other gifts included a belt with throwing knives, two daggers, and a new collar for Shadow, who had grown to the size of a pickup truck. He was still only 6 months old. Once he became the size of a full-grown Labrador at only 4 months of age, they found out what he really was. Courtesy of Skulker.

Skulker had exited the portal and found Danny feeding Shadow. His mechanical eyes widened and he whispered, "A hellhound?! A worthy prize…". He tried to shoot a net at Shadow but the dog jumped out of the way and proceeded to turn Skulker's armor into an oversized chew toy.

Due to his size, Shadow had to stay in the Ghost Zone, though the Fentons learned how to summon him to and from the Zone. Danielle was better than the rest of the family at the summoning spell, for some reason.

Finally, Danny laid a hand on Danielle's shoulder. "As your father, I hereby give you permission to help out with the ghost attacks," he said, and Danielle hugged him so tightly, he felt his spine pop.

That night, Dani went out on her first patrol with Danny. They chatted, enjoying the father/daughter bonding moment. As they flew over the town, Dani floated over to Danny and promptly sat on his back, effectively making him a flying taxi. Danny just smiled.

After a while, they ran into the Box Ghost. _Again._ He attacked the town almost daily. He'd become more of a pain in the ass rather than an actual threat. Dani used this opportunity to test out her hand-to-hand combat skills. Poor Box Ghost…

After beating the Box Ghost into the Fenton Thermos, Danny and Dani went to the park and transformed. Danny smiled as he watched his daughter play on the playground. After a few minutes, Dani stopped playing to let out a huge yawn. Danny transformed before flying over and gathering his daughter in his arms. She yawned again, wrapped her arms around his neck, and promptly fell asleep against his shoulder. He smiled as he took off towards Fenton Works.

He phased into Danielle's room and woke her up so she could get ready for bed. She stumbled to her dresser to get her pajamas while Danny exited the room to give her privacy.

A few minutes later, he heard Dani get into bed and walked in to kiss her good night. Dani snuggled into the covers and was out like a light. Danny turned off the light as he left and went downstairs, where he found Ember looking at a piece of paper with a huge smile on her face.

"What's up, Emy?" Danny asked. Ember said nothing, she just held out the piece of paper. It was addressed to _Daniel James Fenton and Amber Leanne McLain, 1353 W 14_ _th_ _street, Amity Park, Minnesota._ There was no return address, just the letters CW.

Danny raised an eyebrow. Why would Clockwork send him a letter?

He opened the paper and started reading.

 _Dearest Daniel and Amber,_

 _You may not know this, but since you are both ghosts (half, in Daniel's case), you have the opportunity to make your own lair in the Ghost Zone. Come see me if and when you want to make yours. The offer is extended to the rest of your family as well, including Ms. Manson and Mr. and Mrs. Masters._

 _Say hello to Danielle for me._

 _Regards,_

 _Clockwork_

Danny's grin very nearly split his face. He just turned to Ember and wrapped her in a hug and spun her around in a circle, laughing.

Ember was caught off guard but laughed anyway.

Danny set her down and was almost vibrating with excitement. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" he said enthusiastically and teleported in a burst of snow.

Less than ten seconds later, he reappeared, looking sheepish. "Umm…do you know how to get to Clockwork's lair?" he asked nervously.

Ember facepalmed. "Dumbass…" she muttered before taking his hand and leading him to their room. "Let's sleep first, babypop. We'll go see Clockwork in the morning."

"But I caaaaaaaan't!" Danny whined. "I have too much energy!"

Ember's annoyed expression turned into a sly smile. "Well, then, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" she said seductively. Danny gave her a confused look. Ember facepalmed again and whispered in his ear.

Danny immediately went very red, before a goofy smile found its way to his face and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's go, then," said Ember, leading him into their room.

Long story short, they both had a _very_ good night's sleep.

The next morning, Danny was the first one up. He tried his hardest to wake Ember up, but to no avail. She was a really heavy sleeper.

Sighing, he resorted to desperate measures, even though it likely meant the end of the world as he knew it. But he was willing to take that chance, so he used the one thing that nobody, living or dead, could sleep through.

He woke up Danielle, and after bribing her with a stick of gum and two packs of M&M's, brought her into their room. He stuffed his fingers in his ears and nodded at Danielle, who proceeded to produce the loudest, ear-piercing scream anyone had ever heard.

Everyone on the block was instantly awake. Ember included.

After retrieving his girlfriend from the ceiling, he left the room so she could get ready to go to Clockwork's.

Soon, Ember walked downstairs with a frown on her face. "I'll have my revenge, babypop. Just wait," she growled. Seeking to head off her revenge, Danny quickly put on his strongest puppy-dog look. Ember flinched, but was otherwise unfazed. Suddenly, Dani pulled out her puppy-dog look and whimpered, "Please don't be mad at Daddy, he's just excited…" Ember's willpower crumbled under the combined force of the father/daughter assault.

"Oh, fine. I'll let it slide this once," Ember sighed. When she turned around, Danny quickly slipped Dani another pack of M&M's.

"Well, then, let's go!" Danny exclaimed, scooping up Danielle and placing her on his shoulders. Ember rolled her eyes and they teleported to Clockwork's tower.

Danny and Dani marveled at the slightly Gothic design of the tower before Danny remembered why they were here. He enthusiastically knocked on the door, and it soon opened, revealing a smiling Clockwork.

"Ah, hello Daniel, Amber. I take it your trip was uneventful?" he asked, inviting them inside.

"You know the answer to that, Clockwork," Danny said sarcastically. Clockwork just smiled. Suddenly, Dani launched herself off of Danny's shoulders and grabbed the Master of Time around the middle. "It's good to see you, Grandpa Clockwork!" she said happily, and Clockwork smiled down at her before hugging her back. "It's good to see you as well, little one," he said warmly. Dani let go and floated back to Danny's shoulders.

"Well, would you like to create your lair?" asked Clockwork, and both Danny and Ember nodded. "Let's get started then."

A few hours, lots of arguments, and several ecto-blasts later, they were finished. Danny and Ember agreed on just one thing: it needed space. Fenton Works was too small for five halfas, two ghosts, and a human to live together quietly.

So, they built a castle. A huge castle. Seven stories, complete with a moat and drawbridge. And guarding that drawbridge was everyone's favorite hellhound…

"Shadow!" Dani squealed as she ran to the gigantic dog, who promptly rolled over on his back so she could rub his belly. Seconds later, Shadow's leg was kicking, his tail was wagging, and his tongue lolled out of his open mouth.

Danny and Ember smiled at the sight before customizing some of the rooms. The master bedroom was a combination of black, white, and blue, while Danielle would customize her own room. Danny had a full gym, including an indoor track and Olympic-sized pool.

Ember had a full recording studio, complete with a set of guitars that would make any collector jealous. There was even a stage out back that she could play concerts on.

Next to the stage was a training area, where Danny and the others could practice their powers or blow off steam.

Finally, there was a garage as big as Vlad's, where Danny kept his cars. He planned on acquiring more, though he had no idea how.

Exhausted, Danny and Ember flopped down on their king-size bed and promptly fell asleep.

 **MEANWHILE…**

Jack was working on another project in the lab. He was just putting the finishing touches on the word "Fenton" when…

 _ **BOOM.**_

The now soot-and-ectoplasm-covered Jack growled angrily and threw the failed invention off to the side. The only success he had in developing ghost hunting weapons was the Fenton Thermos. Everything else seemed to blow up in his…

Oh.

 _OH._

Jack had an epiphany. Everything seemed to blow up in his face…

…so why not make something that does the exact same thing to a ghost?

Grinning from ear to ear, Jack pulled on his jumpsuit hood and goggles and set to work.

Three hours later, they were finally done. He held them up and looked at them with an approving eye. The Fenton Ecto-Grenades were finally complete! Curious, he took one and walked over to a containment unit where a particularly malevolent ghost was being held. This particular ghost was about to destroy a nursery when Jack intervened and beat the ghost into submission.

Jack pulled the pin and dropped the grenade into the containment unit. "Here, hold this," he said sarcastically.

 _ **BOOM.**_

The ghost was thrown into the wall of the cell by the blast, and it slid down to the floor, unconscious. Jack grinned. Finally, something worked. He quickly gathered the remaining grenades and put them on special belts that could only be worn by himself, his family, Vlad, Ember, Dani, and Sam. Anyone else who tried to wear them were in for a…shocking experience.

Maddie came downstairs. "Jack, what are you doing?" she asked curiously.

Jack smiled and showed her the ecto-grenades. She looked impressed, then asked, "Do you think you could make some timed and remote-controlled ones?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "You doubt my skills?" he asked, feigning offense. At Maddie's deadpan look, he nodded. "Never mind."

 **MEANWHILE…**

Vlad's jaw hit the floor. "Really?" he asked, hopeful he had not misheard. Ellen smiled widely and nodded enthusiastically. Vlad stood there, slack-jawed, for a full thirty seconds before he wrapped Ellen in a hug. According to her, they could make a lair in the Ghost Zone. Vlad was excited enough about that piece of information, but then Ellen dropped the bomb that sent him over the edge.

When they split apart, Vlad immediately went intangible and flew up to the attic.

He spent well over thirty minutes searching, until finally he found what he was looking for.

As he went intangible and phased through the floor, he couldn't help but grin.

He floated through each floor, dancing a made-up jig in midair, his old childhood cradle in his arms.

 **Jesus that was a long one. R &R Please! Thanks for reading, expect chapter 8 by this weekend!**

 ***literally, "sword and dagger"**


End file.
